


Taming the Dragon

by serendipitymadness



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Ember Island, Ember Island (Avatar), Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Potential Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-29 08:02:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 50
Words: 156,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13922850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serendipitymadness/pseuds/serendipitymadness
Summary: Misguided by hate and her lust for power along with her control of fear, Princess Azula was destined for failure. But what if, she had someone else to help her along the way? When Izanami first met Azula, she never would've expected one person to have such an impact on her life. When destiny calls, will Izanami be able to save Azula from herself, or will she fall apart with her?





	1. Chance Meaning

Izanami was seven when she first met Azula. It was during one of the summers that their family spent at Ember Island when she met the ember-eyed girl who gleefully tormented her brother. The sight made Izanami laugh, but it also made her heart heavy as she missed her older brother, Kazu who was off fighting in the war. This was her first summer without her brother and she missed him greatly.

For the most part, Izanami watched the other girl from the far. She wanted to go ask her if she could play, but there was something holding her back from doing so. Perhaps it was the way the other girl so carelessly pushed her brother in the sand as she mocked him. Eventually, Izanami’s mother goes to talk to Azula’s mother, and it’s not too long before the two girls come face to face.

“This is my daughter, Izanami,” her mother, Hikari introduced her.

“And this is my daughter, Princess Azula,” the other woman introduced.

Izanami’s eyes widened at that, realising that she was standing in front of Princess Azula and Lady Ursa of the Fire Nation. While she might’ve been young, Izanami certainly knew her Fire Nation history.

“Azula, why don’t you play with Izanami?” Lady Ursa suggested.

The girl, Azula eyed her up and down before giving a response, “She seems more fun than Zuzu.”

“What’s a Zuzu?” Izanami asked.

Azula rolled her eyes, “My _sweet_ brother.”

Izanami giggled, “That’s a funny name.”

“Alright, girls. We’ll let you two play now. The two of us will be over there,” Hikari said before walking off with Lady Ursa.

“So, you’re a princess!” Izanami exclaimed, slightly in awe.

Azula nodded, “Yes, I am. The best, in fact. What was your name?”

“Izanami,” the girl replied.

“That’s too long. I’ll just call you Izana,” Azula said.

“You can call me whatever you want. Let’s go play now!” Izanami exclaimed, grabbing the other girls hand as she did so.

The two girls ran to a further part of the beach, but close enough so that they could still see their parents. They mostly did the usual beach activities, consisting of sandcastle building competitions and trying to beat the water before it got to them. Azula kicked Izanami’s sandcastle over when she realised that the other girl had out-done her, only for Izanami to return the favour.

 _This girl is not that bad._ Azula thought to herself.

“Do you like it here, Izana?” Azula asked as the two sat on a tall rock that overlooked the ocean.

“It’s nice. Mommy and daddy bring me here when daddy doesn’t have to work. It’s usually funner when my brother is here though,” Izanami said, adding that last sentence sadly.

“Is he as annoying as mine?” Azula asked.

Izanami giggled, “I’m not sure. My brother is my hero though. He’s off fighting in the war. I want to be just like him.”

“I hope I get killed if I ever become like Zuzu,” Azula muttered, causing Izanami to laugh.

“I’m sure your brother is just as great as mine,” Izanami said.

“You would be wrong,” Azula said, glaring as she saw a familiar face come running towards them.

“Azula! Mother wants you and Izanami to come back now!” Zuko yelled to his sister from down below.

Azula scowled, “Tell mother that I’ll come back when I want to!”

“We should go then, if your mommy wants you to,” Izanami said.

“Why?” Azula asked.

“We’re supposed to listen to our mommy’s! I always listen to mine, and my daddy,” Izanami replied.

“I’m sure your mother isn’t as annoying as mine is,” Azula muttered.

“Come on, Zula. Let’s go,” Izanami exclaimed as she dragged the other girl away once again.

Normally, Azula would’ve protested against being dragged against her will and being called something other than her name, but she simply let Izanami drag her towards their parents who were waiting for them near the shore.

“Azula, did you have fun playing with Izanami?” Ursa asked her daughter.

“It’s Izana, mother. And yes, I did have fun with her. She’s much better than Zuzu,” Azula replied.

“Hey!” Zuko exclaimed.

Izanami giggled, “Zuzu’s funny.”

“My name is Zuko, _not_ Zuzu!” Zuko cried, exasperated.

“Prince Zuko, stop embarrassing yourself in front of our guests. Admiral Masaru, Lady Hikari, would you care to join us for the rest of our trip?” Ozai asked.

“We would be honoured to, Prince Ozai,” Masaru replied.

“If you don’t mind, we will leave Izanami with our servants, so she can play with Zuko and Azula,” Ursa suggested.

“That would be splendid,” Hikari said.

Izanami would spend the rest of her vacation with Azula, with the two leaving Zuko out of their fun much to his chagrin. Azula seemed to like Izanami, which made her happy since it was usually difficult for her to find friends. The other girl was even able to take her mind off her brother for a brief time, which made Izanami even more happy instead of worrying if whether or not her brother was okay.

The rest of their vacation was short lived, and it eventually came time for Izanami and her family to leave Ember Island and return to North Chung-Ling. While the adults said their final words, Azula and Izanami said their goodbyes as well.

“Will I ever see you again, Zula?” Izanami asked sadly.

“If you come to the Fire Nation Capital you will,” Azula replied.

“I’ll try and convince mommy for us to move so we can be friends! I’d like to be friends with you, Zula,” Izanami exclaimed.

Azula nodded in agreement, “That would be nice. I hope I can see you again, Izana.”

“Me too, Zula! So, we can be best friends!” Izanami exclaimed.

“Iza, come along now. We must be going,” Hikari called out.

“I’ll miss you, Zula,” Izanami said as she hugged the other girl.

“I’ll miss you, too, Izana,” Aula said.

With one last wave, Izanami ran back to her parents before bidding the Royal Family farewell. Izanami stayed focused on Azula, waving at her as their boat left the beach. She had enjoyed what little time she had with the other girl and was sad to say goodbye.

But little did Izanami know that this wouldn’t be the last time she saw Princess Azula.


	2. Throughout the Years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I didn't post an authors note at the beginning of the first chapter, I just wanted to say that this is a story that I've posted on my fanfiction account under the same name as this one that I've finally gotten around to posting here. This chapter takes place a few years after the last one, so Izanami is now 11 and Azula is 10.

When Izanami left Ember Island, she honestly didn’t think that she would ever see Princess Azula again, given the fact that they lived in different parts of the Fire Nation. That would change when her father got transferred to the Royal Plaza near the Fire Nation Capital several years later. Truthfully, Izanami had almost forgotten about that time she spent with Princess Azula but when she and her family set foot in their new house in Caldera City, Izanami immediately remembered the Fire Nation Princess who she played with those years ago on Ember Island.

Izanami wondered if the other girl remembered her, probably not since it had been almost four years when they first met, and she probably had more important people to remember. Izanami was less than pleased when her mother told her that she would be attending the Royal Fire Academy for Girls because she would’ve much rather been home-schooled than go to a new school.

It was no surprise to Izanami that when she first went got to her new school that people avoided her and stuck to their own friends. It made her miss things back in North Chung-Ling, since this was entirely different than what she once knew. For the most part, Izanami stayed clear from the other girls, since she could tell that they didn’t like her. Two weeks had passed since Izanami had arrived at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls and she was yet to find any friends, until some girl with a plat hair approached her.

“Hi!” she exclaimed cheerfully.

“Hello,” Izanami shyly greeted the other girl.

“My name is Ty Lee. What’s yours?” the girl asked.

“Izanami,” she replied.

“That’s so pretty! I saw you by yourself and I thought that join you! It’s no fun being lonely!” the girl, Ty Lee exclaimed.

“Ty Lee, who are you talking to?” a familiar voice asked.

At that voice, Izanami’s head snapped up as she looked in the direction of the voice. Her eyes widened as she caught the sight of a familiar face standing opposite to her.

“Azula, this is Izanami! Izanami, this is my bestest friend, Princess Azula!” Ty Lee re-introduced them.

Azula narrowed her eyes, “Izana?”

“You remember me?” Izanami asked in surprise.

“Of course. How could I forget the girl who knocked over my glorious sandcastle?” Azula said.

“You knocked mine over first,” Izanami remembered.

Ty Lee looked confused, “You two know each other?”

“We met once on Ember Island a few years ago. It’s nice to see that you’re finally here with the rest of us,” Azula said, smirking.

“My dad got transferred to the Royal Plaza, so our family moved here to be closer to him,” Izanami explained.

“And that brother of yours?” Azula asked.

Izanami looked down, saddened at the mention of her brother, “I still haven’t seen him since he left. I don’t even know if he’s still alive.”

“That’s so sad,” Ty Lee murmured.

“What about your brother? Is he still annoying?” Izanami asked.

Azula scoffed, “He’s even more pathetic, especially now that mother is gone. It’s sad.”

“That must be hard, not having your mommy around. I don’t know what I’d ever do without mine,” Izanami said.

“Are you kidding me? I’m glad that she’s gone. Especially now that father is Fire Lord and now I can officially be the Crown Princess. It’s what I deserve,” Azula boasted.

The three girls were soon joined by another girl who Izanami did not know. She was mostly clad in black clothes and she looked less than happy to be there.

“What are you two doing here?” she asked.

“Mai, this is our new friend, Izana! Izana, this is our other friend, Mai,” Ty Lee introduced them.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Izanami greeted the other girl.

“I don’t see what’s so nice about it,” the girl, Mai muttered.

“Don’t mind Mai. She’s always like this,” Azula whispered to Izanami.

“Now that we have Izana, the four of us can be best friends! The awesome foursome!” Ty Lee exclaimed. Mai seemed less than pleased with that name while Azula rolled her eyes, causing Izanami to giggle.

“Whatever you want, Ty Lee,” Azula muttered.

“Yay! We’re going to be best friends for ever!” Ty Lee exclaimed, enveloping them all into a hug.

In all honesty, the last thing that Izanami expected was to be reunited with Azula and for her to actually remember her, since she was only seven when they met. Izanami could certainly see a difference in Azula now compared to the first time they met. For instance, Azula seemed a lot more mean than the first time they met. Back then, Izanami just found it funny, but she later realised that the Princess was in fact being mean, even if it still was funny.

Izanami was quick to realise how being friends with the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation had it’s perks. Firstly, she was always invited to the Royal Palace to play with Azula at least once a week. Sometimes, she’d get to watch the other girl train and Izanami was always amazed by how well Azula could perform her firebending. The younger girl displayed such power and ferocity that even she didn’t have. Azula would sometimes even ask Izanami to join her in training, but Izanami preferred watching her train, since there was just something about the way Azula firebended that fascinated her.

Being friends with Azula certainly gave Izanami privileges that most people could ever dream of. Azula would always get her invited to special occasions where she could wear all sorts of fancy clothes. It also gave her a bigger name in the Fire Nation, even if most people knew her because she was friends with the Fire Lords daughter. Izanami was still friends with Mai and Ty Lee to some degree, but she and Azula were always the closest out of the four, despite how Ty Lee would always try to get in on their activities, only to be pushed aside by Azula.

Eventually, the foursome was split up when Mai’s family became an integral part of the war, while Ty Lee ran off to join the circus. That just left Azula and Izanami, who were as thick as thieves and would do anything for each other. Izanami helped Azula with the pressure she felt from her father, especially after her brother Zuko was banished from the Fire Nation. Just like how Azula would help Izanami improve in her bending and stand up for her if she needed it. Their friendship went from strength to strength and although they sometimes disagreed, there wasn’t anything that Azula or Izanami wouldn’t do for each other.

If only the two knew just how much their friendship would be tested.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of a fan of leaving chapters off on one sentence hehehe. I debated on whether or not I should throw in Zuko’s Agni Kai with Ozai in there, but I decided against it since this story focuses on Azula, not Zuko.


	3. Musings of a Concerned Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s a bit of a time skip in this one, since it takes place roughly around a year before the series begin which makes Izanami somewhere around 14 and Azula 13.

Years had passed since Azula and Izanami had first met. Since they were reunited, the two had become inseparable and it was rare to see one without the other. They were always up to mischievous shenanigans around the Royal Palace but today was one of the rare times they weren’t. Azula was currently teaching Izanami some more advanced firebending moves down in the courtyard. It amazed Izanami that despite Azula being younger than she was, the girl still managed to surpass her in her bending.

“You’re doing it wrong, Izana,” Azula corrected her.

“How so?” Izanami asked.

“You’re relying too much on your strength and power. While that is a part of firebending, a lot of it comes from the breath. Like so,” Azula explained.

Izanami watched as the Fire Nation Princess mimicked her previous movements before she performed the routine, creating a powerful blast of red fire.

“Do you understand?” Azula asked.

Izanami nodded, “I’ll try it again.”

Just like before, Izanami stretched out her palm except this time, she breathed out from her body which created a blast of fire that could rival Azula’s.

“Excellent. You’ve improved greatly since we first started,” Azula complimented her.

Izanami gave her a smile, “Well, that’s because I have such a good teacher.”

“Thank you. You’re not too bad of a student either,” Azula said.

“When do you have to go see your father again?” Izanami asked.

“In an hour. Which means I should probably get ready. I can’t have father seeing me like this,” Azula replied as she gestured to her clothes that were slightly worn out after training.

“Alright. I’ll help you,” Izanami offered.

With that, the two friends made their way to Azula’s room. As they did so, Izanami couldn’t help but reflect on Azula’s relationship with her father. From what she gathered, Azula always strived to please her father. Ozai didn’t seem to have that much of a problem with Izanami, but the young girl could tell that it bothered him with the amount of time she spent with his daughter.

Azula’s relationship with her father was certainly different compared to Izanami’s. The biggest difference was that Izanami knew her father loved her, since he told her that every time he saw her. The same could not be said for Ozai, since he was always hard to read, and Izanami sometimes doubted if Ozai had the ability of compassion, especially since he so easily burned and disowned his own son over a year ago.

“Which outfit do you think is better?” Azula asked Izanami as she showed her the two options, which were exactly the same.

Izanami raised an eyebrow, “But they’re the same.”

“I know. Which one is better?” Azula repeated.

“Um, the one on the right,” Izanami answered.

Azula scoffed, “I guess I’ll take the one on the left then.”

“Why is it such a big deal about what you wear? You’re just seeing your father,” Izanami pointed out.

“Yes, I am seeing my father who also happens to be the Fire Lord. Daughter or not, I cannot present myself to him looking like I crawled out from a ditch. I have to present myself with poise and respect. If not… Well, you saw what he did to Zuzu,” Azula said.

Izanami sighed, knowing that her friend had a point. Although she wouldn’t say it, Ozai always slightly terrified Izanami. There was just something about the man that scared her, especially after the way he treated Zuko.

“Do you miss him?” Izanami suddenly asked.

Azula glanced at her, “Who?”

“Zuko. Do you miss him?” Izanami repeated.

“Why would I miss him? I don’t miss him and to be honest, I’m glad he’s gone. That means father can focus more on me and I don’t have to worry about Zuzu screwing up,” Azula replied.

“It’s okay to miss Zuko. He _is_ your brother,” Izanami said.

“Izana, you of all people should know that Zuzu and I don’t have a bond like you do with your brother. For us, it was all about competition and being the best. Obviously, that was me, but Zuzu always managed to screw up. It’s his own fault that he got banished,” Azula said.

“And what about your mother?” Izanami asked carefully.

Azula glared at her, “ _Don’t_ even mention her.”

“Right, sorry,” Izanami apologised, momentarily forgetting that Azula’s mother was a sensitive topic for her.

“Well, I should be getting ready now. Why don’t you go back to practicing down at the courtyard? I’ll meet up with you later,” Azula suggested.

“Alright. Good luck, Azula,” Izanami said as she left her friends room.

For a brief moment, Izanami glanced back at Azula’s room before sighing to herself and walking away. It always bothered Izanami how Azula always did what she did to please her father. In fact, it seemed as though if Azula didn’t please her father than she would simply be brushed aside, and Izanami was well aware of how that made Azula feel.

There were certainly times when Izanami just wanted to snap at Ozai and call him a horrible father, but Izanami didn’t want to end up banished like Zuko, so she held her tongue. For Azula’s sake, that is since Izanami often grew concerned for Azula when she wasn’t around her. Izanami knew that Azula had a dark side much like her fathers, but Izanami always tried her best to suppress it.

Izanami could only hope that Aula wouldn’t end up like her father. Azula was already showing signs of having some of Ozai’s characteristics and that frightened her. For as long as she could, Izanami would do whatever it took to protect Azula from her own darkness.

~*•°•*~

A few hours later, Izanami found herself sitting down near the pond in the palace garden. She was yet to see Azula since she left her, and Izanami was beginning to worry. Eventually, the sound of footsteps in the distance snapped her out of her worries and she turned around to see Azula running towards her. At first, Izanami was concerned but that quickly went away when she saw the biggest grin on Azula’s face that she had ever seen.

“Zula, what’s going on?” Izanami asked her friend once she tackled her into a hug, which surprised her since Azula wasn’t normally one to show her, or anyone that matter some type of affection.

“You’ll never guess what I just did!” Azula exclaimed.

Izanami chuckled, “Based on that, I’m sure I won’t. How did it go with Ozai?”

Azula grinned, “Like you wouldn’t believe!”

“I’m guessing that also has something to do with what you just did,” Izanami said.

“You would be correct,” Azula said.

“Well, put me out of my suspense and tell me!” Izanami exclaimed.

Azula smirked, “It would work better if I showed you. I suggest that you take a few steps back.”

Izanami smiled and did as she was told, although she was confused as to why Azula wanted her to step back and what could possibly have Azula so excited. Her questions were answered as Azula performed several firebending moves, adding a few extra ones to show off. But Azula didn’t need to show off because she was already amazed at what she had saw.

What came out of Azula’s fists when she firebended wasn’t her usual red fire. It was _blue_.

Once she was done, Azula turned to face Izanami with the biggest grin on her face, “Well?”

Izanami was speechless for a moment until she managed to find her words, “Az… That was _incredible_. What even was that? How did you do it?”

“That, was firebending with _blue_ fire,” Azula simply responded.

Izanami laughed, “I know that. But how? Isn’t fire supposed to be red?”

“Well, mine isn’t because mine is better than everyone else’s!” Azula exclaimed.

“Okay, I’m sure that there is a logical explanation for it,” Izanami said.

Azula rolled her eyes, “You’re no fun.”

“So, when did this happen?” Izanami asked.

“Well, after my meeting with father he asked me demonstrate some moves so that’s what I did. At first, it was just the red fire that came out but then on my last move my fire was _blue_. I could hardly believe it and father was the same! He said that I’m the prodigy I was always meant to be and that I might even be ready to try _lightning generation_ ,” Azula explained.

Izanami gave her friend a small smile, “Wow, Zula. I’m so happy for you. That really is amazing.”

“I know. I’ve spent the past few hours with father and some of the sages, since they were trying to figure out why my fire is blue,” Azula added.

“And did they?” Izanami asked.

“Yep. It turns out that my blue fire burns hotter than red fire. That just makes me more powerful!” Azula exclaimed.

Izanami shook her head in amazement, “That truly is incredible, Zula. You’ve worked so hard for this and I know that you deserve it.”

“Thank you, Izana. And guess what?” Azula exclaimed.

“What?” Izanami asked.

“Father said that because of my success, he’s throwing a gala in _my_ honour!” Azula cried.

“Wow. I’m so happy for you, Zula. But, I have one question,” Izanami said.

“What?” Azula asked.

“Will I be invited?” Izanami asked sneakily.

“Of course, you will be, you dummy!” Azula exclaimed.

Normally, Izanami would’ve given Azula a look for calling her a dummy, but since this was a rare happy moment for Azula, she let it slide. Never before had Izanami been so amazed by something as she was of what Azula had done. Izanami couldn’t help but notice the sparkle in her eye when Azula said how proud her father was of her.

Although it made her happy for her friend, at the same time it made her worried. If anything, Ozai was going to pay even more attention to Azula now as a result of her new ability. Izanami could only hope that it wouldn’t be to the detriment of her friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that’s been the longest chapter for this story so far. I’m trying to make the length of these longer so expect bigger chapters in the future. As for Azula’s fire, it’s blue because it burns hotter than most fire and is more powerful as well.


	4. A New Phase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place right before Azula’s arc begins as we see a little more insight into Azula and Izanami’s relationship. Also, that makes Azula 14 and Izanami 15.

When news broke out about the Avatar’s return to the world, the Fire Nation was put into panic mode upon realising that their greatest fear had now become a reality. The Avatar had returned. Izanami could see the changed that news brought to Azula, as she became more intense in her training – not that she wasn’t before. But it was different now. Azula wasn’t training to be perfect, she was training to kill.

Since Azula’s fire had turned blue, she bended with a passion and precision that Izanami had never seen from her before. Azula’s fire was beautiful, no doubt. But it was also stealthy and deadly. As the days went on, Azula seemed to put more focus into mastering lightning generation. The thought of lightning never really bothered Izanami before, but seeing someone with perfect control of it was scary. If you found yourself at the end of spectrum or made any wrong move, you’d be done for.

Just now, Azula was practicing lightning generation on the outskirts of Caldera City, with her mentors Lo and Li, along with Izanami who was there to watch. The crackling sound of lightning was enough to send shivers through Izanami’s body, and she wasn’t sure if she would ever get over that. Azula’s firebending had improved greatly and she was pretty much a master. Izanami was pretty sure that her skills could even rival her fathers, who was considered the most powerful firebender in the world.

Once Azula finished her movements, only her fingers were outstretched as the lightning left her body and exploded in the sky, leaving a trail of dust behind.

“Your stance is perfect,” Lo commented.

“Your movements are just too ragged. You need more control,” Li added.

“I’ll show _you_ control,” Azula hissed.

Again, Azula moved her arms around like arcs as she conjured the positive and negative energies around her before bringing them together and unleashing them in one strong and decisive display of technique.

“Much better,” Li praised her.

“I think that is enough training for today, Princess. Li, how about we go for some tea?” Lo suggested.

Li nodded, “Let’s go.”

It wasn’t long before it was just Azula and Izanami left on the training ground. Izanami hesitantly approached her friend, not really sure if she was about to throw another bolt of lightning or not. When Azula didn’t make any other movements, Izanami approached her with confidence.

“You never cease to amaze me, Zula,” Izanami praised her friend.

Azula turned to face her friend, “If only Li was so easily impressed as well.”

Izanami shrugged, “Well, I can never really tell those two apart and they might as well be the same person, so it doesn’t really matter.”

Azula rolled her eyes, “Yes it does. Their opinion matters to me as it is their advice that allows me to better myself. Without them, I’d have no one to train me.”

“You’d have me,” Izanami said.

“What do you know about lightning generation, Izana?” Azula asked.

“That it involves lightning…” Izanami trailed off.

“You’re a teacher in the making,” Azula said sarcastically.

“At least you’d be able to tell who I am,” Izanami joked.

“Unfortunately,” Azula teased.

Izanami laughed, “It’s nice to see your sense of humour, Az.”

A comfortable moment of silence surrounded the pair of friends until Azula asked, “Was it really that good?”

Izanami nodded, “It was. Ozai would be proud of you.”

Azula scoffed, “He’s hardly ever proud of me.”

“What makes you say that?” Izanami asked.

“The only time he’s ever proud of me is when I succeed in something. If I fail, well… I’m pretty much Zuzu,” Azula muttered.

Izanami gave her friend a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. It upset Izanami to see Azula get deflated like this when she truly was one of the greatest firebenders on the planet. But Izanami knew that her opinion wouldn’t matter and Azula would only believe it if it came out of her father’s mouth.

“Zula, you’re incredible. You amaze me on a day to day basis. You’ve surpassed me in every form of bending there is! If Ozai isn’t proud of you, then he doesn’t know what being proud is,” Izanami comforted her friend.

“You mean that?” Azula asked.

Izanami nodded, “Every bit. Now come on, let’s head back before the guards have a meltdown over our absence.”

“Wouldn’t you like to see that happen?” Azula asked.

Izanami laughed, “Maybe. But it’s not worth having your father’s wrath.”

~*•°•*~

In the weeks to come, Izanami would continue to sit and watch Azula train just like she always did. Part of the reason why Izanami was so keen to watch her friend train was to learn new ways to better herself, but most of it was just the sheer fascination that she got from watching Azula train. Azula trained with a passion and determination unlike anyone that Izanami had ever seen.

At the same time, Izanami had grown content with her life in Caldera City. She was able to see more than she ever could and continued to enjoy the privileges that came with being best friends with the Fire Lord’s daughter. Above all that, Azula was her friend just because she was her friend and for no other reason. Although the direction her life was heading in would soon change on one particular day when Azula was called into her father’s throne room.

“What did your father want to speak with you about, Zula?” Izanami asked once Azula joined her in the courtyard.

“You’re aware of the failure at the North Pole, correct?” Azula asked.

“Yes…” Izanami trailed off.

“As it turns out, my Uncle fatso is now a traitor for joining forces with the Avatar at the Siege of the North while Zuzu has been declared a failure after not succeeding in capturing the Avatar. I’m not surprised since Zuzu has always been a failure and I always thought that uncle fatso would turn traitor eventually,” Azula explained.

“What does this have to do with you?” Izanami asked.

“Father said that they have disgraced him and brought shame to all Fire Nation citizens. As his daughter, it is my job to fix their mistakes,” Azula answered.

“By doing what?” Izanami asked.

“Father now wants me to track down Iroh and Zuko and bring them back to the Fire Nation, so they can face their punishment for what they have done,” Azula replied.

Izanami’s eyes widened, “Really?”

“Yes. I will be leaving shortly,” Azula said.

“But Azula… They’re your family…” Izanami trailed off.

“Do you think that matters to me? They might share my blood, but what power do they really have? If father wants me to bring their sorry backsides home, then that’s what I have to do,” Azula snapped.

“But, do you want to?” Izanami asked.

Azula shrugged, “It’s not like I have anything to do. Besides, it gives me time to put my skills to good use.”

“I can’t believe this,” Izanami muttered.

What surprised Izanami the most about this situation was how Ozai was so quick to discard Iroh and Zuko, even though they were his family. Azula’s eagerness to complete this task also concerned Izanami, but really, she shouldn’t be surprised since Azula was always keen to please her father.

“Izana, can I ask you something?” Azula suddenly asked.

Izanami raised her eyebrows, “What?”

“W-would you like to join me?” Azula asked.

“Join you?” Izanami repeated.

“On my mission. You wouldn’t have to do anything if you don’t want to. I could certainly use your company,” Azula explained.

Izanami was stunned, “Wow, Azula.”

“I understand if you do not wish come, since that would mean leaving your family behind. I’ll give you some time to think about it if you need to,” Azula said.

“Say no more. I’d be honoured to join you on your mission,” Izanami conceded.

“Really?” Azula asked.

Izanami nodded, “Azula, we’re best friends. Anywhere you go, I go. Besides, without you, what else would I have to do around here? And like you said, who would you have to keep you company.”

“Is that your final decision?” Azula asked.

“Definitely. I’ll stand by you no matter what, Azula,” Izanami replied.

Azula gave a small smile that almost went unnoticed by Izanami, “Well, then. I’ll let you prepare for our departure.”

Although Izanami would never admit it, she did have her reservations about leaving the Fire Nation Capital. Izanami already hadn’t seen her brother in over seven years, her father was always in and out of their lives, but Izanami was mainly hesitant about leaving her mother behind, who was her only support network. But deep down, Izanami knew that Azula would need her support along the road and as her best friend, it was her duty to help her. Izanami might’ve been apprehensive about leaving the Fire Nation, but it’s what she had to do.

And although Azula would never admit it, Izanami knew that her friend would do the same for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It looks like Azula and Izanami are about to leave the Fire Nation and you know what that means, the action is finally about to begin. In case you haven’t realised it, Azula will be slightly OOC in this story at times. I will try my best to maintain her usual demeanour, but for the purpose of this story, Azula’s human side will make an appearance every now and then.


	5. Family Ties

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of the last chapter, Azula and Izanami are ready to chase down Iroh and Zuko. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how adding Izanami to the mix will change the dynamic of the story, so I hope you guys enjoy it.

It was only a few days after Azula had offered Izanami to join her on her mission before the pair left the Fire Nation Capital City. Leaving her mother behind had been difficult for Izanami, since the two of them had always been close but her mother understood why her daughter had to go with Azula. If she was being honest, Izanami wasn’t too sure what the result of this mission was going to be. Part of her doubted if they’d even be able to find Iroh and Zuko, since they could’ve been anywhere for all they knew. But Izanami knew Azula was determined to find her brother and uncle, since she didn’t want to let her father down and would do whatever it took to make him proud.

Izanami had heard numerous stories about the failed Siege of the North Pole. What astounded her the most was that the same night it happened, the moon had disappeared and turned red as well. Everyone had been stunned and fearful at the same time, before the moon quickly returned. It turned out that Admiral Zhao had supposedly killed the Moon Spirit in his quest of domination, which explained the moons sudden change of form. After that, Izanami had heard numerous rooms about what had happened next. The Avatar had apparently morphed into some giant spirit monster before unleashing a crazy powerful attack on the fleet of Fire Nation ships, ultimately securing the victory for the Northern Water Tribe.

One of the crazier rumours that Izanami had heard was that the Northern Water Tribe princess had been so enraged by the loss of the moon spirit that she had turned into the spirit itself, allowing the Avatar to take control of it. Regardless of what happened, there had been numerous casualties reported as a result of the siege, one of them being Admiral Zhao and it had even been speculated that the moon spirit had taken him away as punishment for what he did.

Izanami was honestly amazed by the power that the Avatar apparently possessed and knew it could potentially make things difficult for her and Azula if they ever crossed passed with him, although that didn’t seem to faze Azula in the slightest. Nothing really fazed Azula, since the young princess was without a question the strongest and determined person that Izanami had ever met. She could even give Ozai a run for his money with her ambitions and power. Izanami knew that it didn’t bother Azula in any way that she was going to be tracking down her brother and uncle before throwing them in prison. The only reason why Izanami would willingly track down her brother would be to bring him back home where he belonged. That was one of the many differences between Azula and Izanami, and they knew that.

Soon after they left the Fire Nation Capital, they set a course for the Earth Kingdom, which was where they assumed Iroh and Zuko would most likely go to following the events at the North Pole. Izanami could tell that Azula was eager to just capture her brother and uncle and be done with it and Izanami was too, but for her own reasons. Throughout her fifteen years of living, Izanami had never been a fan of ships or boats in general. Mainly because every time she got on one, she was always seasick. Azula was yet to witness her friends experience on ships and she was about to witness it firsthand.

“Izana, what is the meaning of this?” Azula asked as she entered her friend’s quarters. Izanami was hunched over in the corner of my room, puking her guts out.

“Just puking my guts out,” Izanami replied.

“Why? Do you not enjoy our state of the art ship cuisine?” Azula asked with a hint of sarcasm.

Izanami rolled her eyes, “No. Well yes, but no. I’m seasick.”

“Oh. So, you’re not a fan of ships then,” Azula realised.

Izanami nodded, “Or just anything on water in general.”

“Is this new to you?” Azula asked.

“No. Ever since I was five I could never handle being on the water unless I was swimming,” Izanami replied.

“Then why did you agree to come with me if you knew you would get seasick?” Azula asked.

“Because, you’re my best friend, Zula. I wasn’t going to let you do this on your own,” Izanami answered weakly.

For a split second, Izanami could see a smile forming on Azula’s face before it went away. Azula hardly ever smiled, but there were those few rare occasions when she would let some happiness show and Izanami loved those moments.

“Well, thank you for your support. We’ll be docking in a few days, you should get some rest. Iroh and Zuko are reported to have been last seen near Su Oku river on the western coast of the Earth Kingdom,” Azula said.

Izanami nodded, “Thank you and I will. Just don’t go trying to kill your brother without letting me know.”

Azula smirked, “If my plan works without a hitch, I won’t even have to kill them.”

“You have a plan already? What is it?” Izanami asked, slightly surprised. But then again, she really shouldn’t be surprised since this was Azula she was talking about, and Azula always had a plan for everything.

“Are you even surprised, Izana? I’m always prepared for everything. And you’ll find out what my plan is soon enough,” Azula replied.

Izanami rolled my eyes, “I thought we agreed to tell each other _everything_. Some friend you are.”

Azula chuckled, “Don’t be luck that, Izana. Trust me when I say it will all be worth it. Plus, for this plan to work I’m going to need your reactions.”

“Fine, keep me out of the loop. Don’t be surprised if you find that I’ve invaded your bathroom later,” Izanami threatened jokingly.

“Don’t even think about it,” Azula warned as she left her room, leaving Izanami laughing behind with her seasickness momentarily forgotten.

As soon as Azula left, Izanami felt that twisting feeling in my stomach again and she groaned as she vomited yet again. Maybe some rest would be good. Besides, it looked like Izanami was going to need it.

~*•°•*~

Within a few days, the ship had neared it’s destination of the Su Oku river and Izanami was just waiting for it to dock so she could go a day without her seasickness, since it only ever bothered her when the vessel was moving. It seemed as though Azula was about to enact whatever devious plan she had concocted as she prepared herself to address the crew. Izanami stood behind as Azula was brought out onto the deck in a royal carriage before she presented herself to the crew, signalling them to rise. Izanami wasn’t special enough to get my own royal carriage, but it wasn’t like she really wanted one since all Azula had to do was walk a few meters. It’s not like the ship was that big.

“My brother and my uncle have disgraced the Fire Lord, and have brought shame on all of us,” Azula addressed them as she walked between the two lines of soldiers dressed in the uniform of the Royal Procession, “You might have mixed feelings about attacking members of the Royal Family. I understand. But I assure you, if you hesitate, I will not hesitate to bring you down. Dismissed.”

The soldiers did as told and left the deck. Izanami couldn’t help but stare at Azula in wonder. It was times like this when she forgot that her friend was only fourteen, just a year younger than she was. Azula spoke in a way that was so cold and demanding. Izanami figured that if she had her own music, it would be just like how she was herself, perfect, precise, deft and deadly, with a bit of a creepy mix at times as well. As Azula stared out in the distance, she was joined by Captain Minato as he ran towards her.

“Princess, I’m afraid the tides will not allow us to bring the ship into port before nightfall,” he apologised.

 _Great, just what I needed. More time on this floating hunk of junk._ Izanami thought.

“I’m sorry, captain, but I do not know much about the tides,” Azula said in a strangely pleasant voice, “Could you explain something to me?”

“Of course, Your Highness,” Minato replied, and Izanami could just tell from his voice that he was nervous. Izanami would be too if she were him. Azula was either going to make him panic or piss himself by the time she was done with him.

“Do the tides command this ship?” Azula asked.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Minato replied, confused.

“You said the tides would not allow us to bring the ship in,” Azula pointed out before adding in a sharper tone, “Do the tides command this ship?”

“No, princess,” Minato answered.

“And if I were to have you thrown overboard, would the tides think twice about smashing you against the rocky shore?” Azula asked. There it was. Azula was always good at pretending to be nice when in reality, she was just angry.

“No, princess,” Minato replied worriedly. Izanami could see him practically shaking and it seemed as though he was trying his best to maintain his demeanour.

“Well then, maybe you should worry less about the tides who have already made up their mind about killing you,” Azula said softly as she ran her fingers through her bangs, “and worry about me, who’s still mulling it over.”

Azula turned to face the captain angrily, and that was enough motivation for him to get moving, “I’ll pull us in.”

Minato then ran back towards the ships entrance and Izanami could see Azula glaring dangerously at him. Well, he didn’t lose his calm, so he probably pissed himself. Or he’s doing both right now.

“Now, Azula. Don’t go killing Minato because he can’t form a comprehendible sentence. We still need a Captain to lead the ship,” Izanami reasoned.

Azula growled, “I cannot stand dealing with incompetent fools sometimes. I should have Minato’s title as Captain revoked just on that.”

“Well, if he can’t handle a leader like you then he probably isn’t cut out for being a captain,” Izanami agreed.

“Lo and Li will be coming out shortly to train me. You can stay and watch if you want,” Azula offered.

Izanami shrugged, “It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“In the meantime, how about _I_ train _you_ ,” Azula suggested.

“It takes my mind of the seasickness,” Izanami conceded.

“Good. Now, think fast,” Azula said before hurling a blast of blue fire towards her friend. Thinking quickly, Izanami was able to counteract her attack with her own firebending before sending a blast of her own fire towards her, shooting it right at her feet.

“Your reflexes are almost as sharp as mine,” Azula praised Izanami.

“Thanks. Enough with the small talk, let’s practice,” Izanami challenged.

Azula smirked and it didn’t take long for them to get into their own battle for supremacy. Most people going up against Azula would automatically think that they’re going to lose, which they probably would but Izanami always thought that the difference between a champion and a chump was believing in yourself. Plus, Izanami knew that Azula would go easy on her for the most part so that helped. Izanami certainly did enjoy those moments when she would catch her off guard, though. Her firebending might not be as advanced as Azula’s, but Izanami was no weakling.

~*•°•*~

Within a few hours, the ship had finally docked near the Su Oku river where Iroh and Zuko were reported to have been spotted. After Azula and Izanami sparred on the deck, it was time for Azula’s session with Lo and Li. Those loonies always creeped Izanami out, since they mostly talked in unison and it was practically impossible to tell them apart. Izanami could never get it right and even Azula has mixed them up on occasions. It made Izanami think that it would be fun to have a twin just to mess with people, which even she would admit to taking enjoyment from.

Azula was currently practicing her lightning generation and like most times, Izanami made sure to keep my distance from her since it always freaked her out. It always amazed Izanami how Azula could just block everything out when she trained, and Izanami wouldn’t be the first to admit that she didn’t have that sort of focus. With her hands laced together as she stood straight, Azula took a deep breath before she moved her arms in a circular motion, the lightning beginning to crackle around her fingers. Once the electricity had reached it’s peak, Azula thrusted her arm forward and fired the bolt into the sky, with one hair falling out of place.

“Almost perfect,” one of the twins – Izanami wasn’t sure which one – commented.

“One hair out of place,” the other added.

Azula’s eyes narrowed as pushed the loose strand of hair away angrily.

“Almost isn’t good enough!” Azula hissed as she repeated her actions, generating lightning again and firing it off into the distance, this time everything was perfect.

“Excellent,” the second twin praised her.

“I think that is enough training for today. Lo, how about we have some tea below deck?” the other twin, Li it was suggested.

“Sounds excellent. Princess, we will resume your training when you’re ready,” Lo said.

“Good day, Princess Azula. Ms Izanami,” Li said as she and her twin walked passed me to head below deck.

“Um, you too?” Izanami said as she waved awkwardly.

“What did you think?” Azula asked as she turned to face her friend.

“Of your training?” Izanami asked for clarification.

Azula nodded, “I value your opinion too.”

“I thought it was great, except for that one hair. But other than that, you did fine,” Izanami praised her.

“My hair has always been a nuisance. Izana, do you think I should cut it?” Azula suddenly asked.

Izanami’s head snapped towards her, “What? Why?”

“It’s always getting in the way, like now for example. I can’t afford to have something as ridiculous as my hair stopping me from getting what I want,” Azula explained.

Izanami shook my head, “Az, your hair is beautiful, I see no need to cut it. How would people even recognise you without your signature bangs?”

“So, no to cutting it?” Azula asked.

“It’s up to you but the way I see it, you shouldn’t let something as silly as your hair annoy you. If it really does, you should work to improve it, so your hair doesn’t become a problem,” Izanami suggested.

Azula nodded, “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking then.”

A comfortable silence soon filled the air, and Izanami looked up to see that the sun was starting to set. The sunset was actually quite beautiful, which was her favourite thing about the sun. Izanami always loved the colours it could create in the sky, which made a beautiful sight. Izanami could feel her stomach starting to turn, so she knew that she needed to get something to eat now.

“Az, are you ready to get some dinner?” Izanami asked.

“I’m afraid I won’t be joining you tonight, Izana. I have some business to attend to,” Azula replied.

Izanami raised her eyebrows, “What sort of business?”

Azula smirked, “You’ll see. Now, why don’t you head below deck to get some dinner. I’ll be joining you in a few hours.”

Not wanting to question Azula any further, Izanami nodded and headed below the deck, taking one last glance over her shoulder as she descended down the stairs. It seemed as though Azula was cooking up something and while Izanami knew that her friend would tell her eventually, Izanami still couldn’t help but wonder what it was.

Azula was always mysterious like that.

~*•°•*~

True to her word, Azula joined Izanami a few hours later in her quarters after she left her on the deck. When Izanami asked her what was going on, she said that she would be finding out tomorrow, which was now today. For some reason unknown to her, Azula had brought Izanami out onto the ships deck before guiding Izanami to the ramp that lead onto the ship where the Royal Procession guards stood opposite each other.

“Where are we going?” Izanami asked warily.

“Nowhere,” Azula replied.

“Then why are we here?” Izanami questioned.

“Zuzu and Uncle fatso will be joining us shortly,” Azula answered.

Izanami’s eyes widened in surprise, “How did you manage to pull that off?”

“You know me, I’ve always had a way with words,” Azula replied.

For a moment, Izanami stared at her in confusion before she remembered why Azula was looking for Iroh and Zuko in the first place and realising that they wouldn’t just come to her for nothing.

“They don’t know that they’re going to be prisoners, don’t they?” Izanami asked.

Azula nodded, “Correct. I knew there was a reason why I was friends with you, Izana. Just let it stay that way.”

“Of course,” Izanami said.

Minutes passed as the pair stood there and waited on the ships ramp. The whole time, Izanami kept thinking about what Azula was going to do. She was going to take her brother and uncle prisoner. What upset Izanami the most was that she was just happily doing it, with no second thoughts. Izanami knew that this was all in an attempt to please Ozai so for Azula’s sake, Izanami hoped that it would work out in her favour.

Eventually, Izanami saw two figures approaching them from the distance and based on the size of them, she assumed that it was Iroh and Zuko. An eerie silence filled the air as they approached the ship, with nobody saying a word as they did so. It had been three years since Izanami last saw them, which was right before Zuko’s banishment. Zuko’s scar was the first thing Izanami noticed, since she had never seen it before. Izanami couldn’t help the slight gasp that escaped her mouth when her eyes laid on it. It stretched across the whole left side of his face and there was no eyebrow above his left eye. Izanami grimaced upon realising how much that must’ve hurt and wondered how someone could just so easily do that to their own child.

Izanami shook her head to get rid of those thoughts. Izanami couldn’t let her sympathy cloud her judgement, for Azula’s sake. Ozai wouldn’t be able to get Zuko from the Earth Kingdom, but he would be able to get Azula and Izanami refused to let anything like that happen to her. It was time to do her job as Azula’s best friend and do this for her. From the distance, Izanami could see that Iroh was glancing from side to side, almost as if he was scoping the place out. Zuko’s face was hard to read, since Izanami couldn’t tell if whether or not he was happy to be here.

“Brother! Uncle! Welcome! We’re so glad you decided to come,” Azula greeted them.

“It is good to see you again, General Iroh. Prince Zuko,” Izanami addressed them with their formal titles.

“Are we ready to depart, Your Highness?” Captain Minato asked.

“Set our course for home, captain,” Azula said sweetly, in a way that made Izanami almost throw up because Azula and sweet… just doesn’t go together.

“Home,” Izanami heard Zuko mutter wistfully. It almost made her feel bad for what they were about to do to them.

“You heard the princess! Raise the anchors!” Minato ordered as he walked up the ramp with Iroh and Zuko following him before he added, “We’re taking the prisoners home!”

Minato immediately widened his eyes upon realising his mistake and looked at Azula. Zuko and Iroh stopped, looking surprise as well as Azula. Her expression turned to one of fury as she stared at Minato, a fearful expression on his face.

“Your Highness, I…” Minato trailed of nervously.

Zuko’s eyes widened as Iroh narrowed his own and suddenly started attacking the guards. He pushed them over the edge of the walkway and sent fire blasts their way with ease. Zuko stomped furiously up the ramp and throwed the captain overboard. Izanami figured that it was probably a better fate than what Azula would’ve given him, since she probably would’ve just vaporised him on the spot.

“You lied to me!” Zuko yelled angrily.

“Like I’ve never done that before,” Azula said smugly.

Azula then turned her back to him and walked away, as two guards standing near her shot fire blasts at Zuko. Zuko crossed his arms and spread them outward, deflecting the attacks and shouted as he charged onto the ship. He turned towards Izanami, a determined look on his face as he kicked a blast of fire towards the younger girl. She was easily able to block it with my own firebending before kicking one at him as well.

“Why are you doing this?” Zuko asked furiously.

“Because Azula is my friend and friends stick together,” Izanami replied.

The two teenagers charged towards each other and engaged in a small battle. Izanami could tell that Zuko’s firebending had somewhat improved since the last time she saw him firebend. Although his blasts were mostly fuelled by anger and his strength. It seemed as though he’d forgotten the basic principles of firebending. Izanami lunged downwards and did several spinning kicks that sent a blazing arc of fire towards him, which he managed to avoid by jumping into the air.

“It didn’t have to be like this, Zuko,” Izanami said.

“You’re just as bad as Azula is!” Zuko exclaimed.

At that comment, Izanami’s sympathy for Zuko went out the window. She might be Azula’s best friend, but even Izanami could admit that on some levels she is a horrible person so to be compared to her in a way like that, Izanami didn’t appreciate it. Izanami punched several blasts of fire his way, refusing to let him get the upper hand. Izanami just needed to give Azula the time she needed and then she’d let the guards take it from there. Zuko seemed to get a renewed fire as he sent his blasts towards Izanami, and she found herself getting closer to the edge of the ship. All Zuko was doing was angrily firebending at Izanami, while she just blocked his attacks. It wasn’t about beating him, it was about wearing him down. Izanami would strike once he was down and out.

Izanami suddenly felt something colliding into her that sent her over the edge. It didn’t take Izanami long to realise that one of the soldiers had been shoved into her, causing her to fall. Izanami barely managed to grab onto the ladder that was on the edge of the ship, narrowly missing falling into the water.

“Zuko! Let’s go!” Izanami heard Iroh yell as he pushed several guards away.

Izanami groaned as she climbed up the ladder, wanting to get back on deck as quickly as possible since she was sure Zuko would take her absence as an opportunity to attack his sister. They never really did have the normal sibling relationship.

“You know, Father blames Uncle for the loss of the North Pole. And he considers you a miserable failure for finding the Avatar!” Izanami heard Azula yell from the deck before she added, “Why would he want _you_ back home, except to lock you up where you can no longer embarrass him?”

Izanami could tell that Azula was trying to take a dig at Zuko in an attempt to psychologically weaken him to give her the upper hand. That’s just the kind of fighter Azula was, someone who used their opponent’s weakness against them. Izanami wasn’t sure if it worked or not since she heard Zuko growl angrily and the sound of flames colliding together. By the time Izanami managed to climb back onto the deck, Zuko was lying at the bottom of the stairwell as Azula stood at the top. Her eyes widened as she saw her move both her arms in a circular motion, generating lightning. Zuko might be a thorn in her side, but that was no reason to strike him with lightning.

“Azula!” Izanami yelled, trying to get her attention so she would stop.

It didn’t seem to work as Azula readied the attack before firing the bolt at her brother. Izanami braced herself for what she was about to see, only for it not to happen. Izanami’s eyes widened in shock as Iroh grabbed hold of her right hand as he somehow managed to take control of the lightning himself before firing it into a nearby cliff. He then bent her downward and kicked her off the ship. Iroh then walked over to his nephew and helped Zuko stand up before they glared at Izanami. After what Izanami had just witnessed, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to best the both of them, so she decided to just let them go.

“Go,” Izanami hissed.

Zuko’s eyes widened as Iroh nodded and the two ran off the ship as quickly as they could. Izanami then leaned over the edge of the ship where Azula had been pushed over. When Izanami didn’t see her in the water, she panicked for a moment before she popped out, gasping for air.

“Izana!” she yelled.

“I’m here, Azula!” Izanami called back.

“Get me out of here!” she yelled.

“I’m on it!” Izanami exclaimed.

When Izanami turned around, she saw that the guards were already on the deck with the ladder, presumably to help the other guards that had fallen over deck. Izanami instantly grabbed it from them before throwing it over so Azula could climb back up. When she did get back onto the deck, she was panting heavily as she kneeled on the metal ground.

“Azula, do you need anything?” Izanami asked gently.

“Where are Zuko and Iroh?” she asked urgently.

Izanami sighed, “They… got away. I had barely managed to climb up the ladder when you fired the lightning bolt at Zuko. Az… why did you do that?”

“Do what?” she asked as she took a towel from one of the guards.

“Why did you fire the lightning at Zuko?” Izanami asked.

“Because, I needed to get rid of him somehow. Father would expect nothing less,” Azula replied.

Izanami sighed, realising that it was pointless in pushing the issue further. What Izanami needed to focus on now was making sure that Azula was okay.

“Are you okay, Zula?” Izanami asked.

Azula nodded, “I just need a change of clothes. Then we’ll head into the nearby town to spread the message that those two traitors are not to be catered for.”

Izanami nodded as Azula headed back inside the ship, not even bothering to give the other guards the time of day. Izanami couldn’t help but sigh as I watched her go, realising that this would only make her more determined to capture her brother and uncle. Izanami couldn’t help but feel guilty for letting them go, but she had to convince herself that it was the right thing to do now and that next time, she wouldn’t be too kind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was a long chapter, almost as long as the last four combined. You can expect longer chapters in the future now that the actions gonna pick up. Which could also mean more waiting time between updates. Did you guys catch the reference I made to Azula’s theme music? On another note, apparently after the captain revealed the plan he was originally going to be vaporised on the spot, but they agreed that was a bit too harsh, which it would’ve been.
> 
> Minato is a Japanese name that ironically means harbour, since he was the captain.


	6. Helping Hands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After the last chapter, things are gonna simmer down until the next one. A little bit of Azula/Izanami friendship in this one to give you the feels.

Since Azula had failed in capturing Iroh and Zuko, she had become more tense than ever. Just by looking at her Izanami could see that she felt like a failure for not doing what she set out to achieve, which made her feel even more guilty for just letting Iroh and Zuko go. But Izanami had to be reasonable, she might’ve been able to take on Zuko but certainly not Iroh since he is a renowned firebending master. Izanami didn’t plan on telling Azula that, though because she knew Azula wouldn’t be happy with that at all.

After Iroh and Zuko had escaped, Azula was quick to declare them as traitors to the Fire Nation, but it seemed as though they were already on the run. As of now, Azula just planned on travelling across the coast of the Earth Kingdom while sending out search parties to find her brother and uncle, so that she could come out and finish the job once they were found. It was hard to see this side of Azula, since Izanami didn’t like it when she could be so cold and heartless, especially towards members of her own family.

Even when Izanami first met Azula, she knew that there was something off about her just by the way she treated her brother and even her mother. Over the years, Izanami had learned not to ask Azula about her family. It was made quite clear to Izanami that the topic of her mother, Ursa was pretty much taboo and then when it came to her other family members, all she had was bad things to say about them. The only time Azula ever spoke fondly of somebody was of Ozai and Izanami at times. Azula was certainly a complicated person, and it seemed as though she grew more complicated as the days went by.

Izanami was currently standing over the deck of Azula’s as it sailed through the gentle water. Her seasickness had slowly started to get better, but there wasn’t a day that went by when Izanami didn’t feel like puking her guts out. It was just getting too clammy in that ship, so Izanami stepped outside for some cool air, which felt refreshing as it brushed against her face. The sound of footsteps from behind Izanami caught her attention, and she turned to see Azula making her way towards her as she strode across the metal floor.

“Izana, what are you doing out here?” Azula asked as she stood next to her friend.

“I needed some air, plus I wasn’t really tired,” Izanami replied.

“Oh. Are you feeling better?” Azula asked.

Izanami nodded, “I still feel sick half the time, but it’s becoming more… manageable, I guess you could say.”

“I still don’t understand why you still wanted to come with me when you knew this would be a problem,” Azula said.

“Az, I’ve said it plenty of times before. You’re my best friend and I’d do anything for you, even if it meant puking my guts out on this floating hunk of junk,” Izanami reasoned.

Azula sighed, “Well, I’m still glad that you came with me. I don’t know how I’d be able to deal with just Lo and Li and all of the imbeciles on this ship.”

Izanami chuckled, “Was it really necessary to leave Captain Minato at the port?”

“Yes. He gave away my master plan that would’ve worked swimmingly if he didn’t reveal it like the moron he is. And I’ll have you know that he is now just Minato. After I sent my incident report to father, he was outraged and fired Minato on the spot. It’s safe to say that he won’t be rising up the ranks anytime soon,” Azula explained smugly.

“Your power of persuasion amazes me,” Izanami said.

“What? I just stated the facts. The plan would’ve worked if it wasn’t for that idiot,” Azula complained.

“It just amazes me how you so easily get your father to do what you want. Even though he’s the Fire Lord, he still can’t say know to you,” Izanami pointed out.

“Well, that’s because I am his only child who would make a great Fire Lord someday,” Azula boasted.

“You would, but what about Zuko?” Izanami asked.

Azula scoffed, “Please, father disowned Zuzu the moment he spoke out in the war meeting. The banishment just made it official.”

Izanami shivered at the mention of Zuko’s banishment, as it brought back the memory of Zuko’s scar. She didn’t know how Zuko had been able to deal with it, since it obviously looked painful the first time she saw it. The last time Izanami saw Zuko was right when Fire Lord Ozai burned him, which still haunted her nightmares to this day.

“Azula, did you see Zuko after he was banished?” Izanami asked.

“What do you mean?” Azula asked.

“After the Agni Kai, did you see him?” Izanami clarified.

“Yes, I did actually. But only because he demanded that I give him some aid in his quest to find the Avatar,” Azula replied.

“Did he, you know, have the scar?” Izanami asked hesitantly.

“Of course, he did, it was just covered by bandages and he seemed pretty weak after the duel. But that was nothing new since Zuzu was always weak. The way he cowered in front of father only proved that,” Azula answered.

“Well, if I was Zuko I would’ve begged for mercy. Anyone would’ve,” Izanami admitted.

Azula scoffed, “I wouldn’t have. If father ordered me to fight him, I would. It would be an honour to fight father, since he is the most powerful firebender in the world.”

“I don’t know, Az. I think you could give him a run for his money,” Izanami said.

“You really think so?” Azula asked quietly.

“Of course! Your Princess Azula, the only female to have the ability to generate lightning and the only person known to wield blue fire. That makes you pretty powerful in my books,” Izanami replied.

Azula gave me a faint smile, “Thanks. You know, I could teach you lightning generation.”

“I don’t think I’m ready for that yet. I still haven’t fully mastered my firebending, so I doubt that I’m ready to try lightning generation,” Izanami said.

“Right. But it’s also because your scared,” Azula pointed out.

“Scared of what?” Izanami asked.

Azula rolled her eyes, “Don’t give me that. You always make sure to be as far away from me as possible when I use my lightning. It’s not like I’m aiming for you.”

Izanami sighed, “I know that. It just freaks me out, you know. Just knowing that someone could have that much power and one wrong move could be the end of it.”

“Don’t think of lightning as some deadly tool. Just think of it as another form of firebending, which it is. It’s the act of separating the positive and negative energies internally, before directing it up through the arm and out the fingertips. Father invented the technique himself,” Azula explained.

“Lightning is also known as the cold-blooded fire,” Izanami pointed out.

“That’s just for people who fear it, like you. Instead of thinking of it as the cold-blooded fire, think of it as the purest form of firebending it is, since it’s not powered by range and anger,” Azula explained.

“But it’s still just as and more destructive as fire itself,” Izanami argued.

Azula groaned, “Ugh, I’m never gonna change your mind. You should know that you won’t even be able to attempt lightning generation until you deal with your fear of lightning.”

“And I’m perfectly content with that. I don’t need lightning generation to be a powerful firebender,” Izanami reasoned.

“You know what, I’m going to help you,” Azula said.

Izanami raised her eyebrows, “How?”

“You’re going to stand there still, not moving a single muscle. While I will stand over here and generate lightning,” Azula started.

“Is this really necessary?” Izanami asked.

“Yes. You’re going to have to deal with your fear of lightning sooner or later. Now, I’m going to strike it right at you, but it won’t actually hit you,” Azula explained.

“Are you sure it won’t?” Izanami asked hesitantly.

“Yes, it won’t. If it would make you feel better, I’ll tie your hands to the edge, so you can’t move?” Azula suggested.

Izanami shook her head, “That won’t be necessary. Let’s just do it now.”

“Alright. Remember, you aren’t in any danger whatsoever. Just watch my movements, and don’t run away like a moron,” Azula said.

“I won’t,” Izanami muttered.

Doing as she was told, Izanami stood against the ships railing as Azula stood calmly on the deck of the ship. After a moment of silence, she then started moving her arms around in a circular motion before lightning started to crackle from her fingers. As it grew bigger and more powerful, Izanami tried backing up further, even though the only option for her to go was over the railing and she didn’t really feel like going for a late-night swim. Finally, Azula thrusted her left arm forward, pointing it right at Izanami as she ducked for cover, only for the lightning to shoot into the sky.

Once there was nothing but the sound of the waves rocking against the ship, Izanami slowly stood up to see Azula walking towards me as she shook her head. Izanami knew that she was about to give her another lecture about her pointless fear, but it would do nothing. It was clear that Izanami’s fear of lightning wouldn’t be an easy fix.

“Izana, didn’t I tell you that you would be one hundred percent safe?” Azula asked.

Izanami sighed, “Yes.”

“Then why did you duck like a coward even though you _knew_ it wasn’t coming at you?” Azula asked.

“I was alright up until you thrusted your arm at me. Even though I kept telling myself it wasn’t aimed at me, I still ducked. Face, it, Az, my fear of lightning isn’t something that’s just going to go away,” Izanami replied.

“Well, this isn’t over. Once we have the time to practice again I’ll make sure to put you front and centre, so you can watch and get over your pointless fear because it’s something that you’ll have to deal with sooner rather than later,” Azula said.

“Thanks for trying to help me anyways. I didn’t realise that you were so generous,” Izanami said in a slightly teasing tone.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Well, you did give Zuko his own ship and you just tried to help me get over my fear of lightning. Sounds pretty generous to me,” Izanami teased.

“Ugh, I only did what I did for you because your my friend and I can’t have your fear getting in the way of my mission. As for Zuzu, he had to get around somehow,” Azula defended herself.

Izanami chuckled, “You really do care about your brother. How sweet.”

“No, I don’t. If you’re going to be like this I’m going back to my chambers,” Azula snapped.

“Remember the time you snuck Zuko a bag of fire crackers because Ozai wouldn’t let him have any?” Izanami asked teasingly as she followed Azula onto the ship.

“Izana!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a filler chapter, but it’s a good filler. Things will once again pick up in the next chapter and I think you can guess what that means. Also, the reference to Zuko’s ship isn’t technically canon but according to Zuko’s Story it was Azula who acquired Zuko’s ship for him so in my headcannon, it’s cannon.


	7. Exquisite Manipulation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ones gonna be a good, juicy chapter leading up to the main event that I'm sure you'll guess what it is by the end of it. It obviously takes place during Return to Omashu.

Almost two weeks after their encounter with Iroh and Zuko, Azula was beginning to get restless. Izanami could tell that she was growing tired of having to wait on her ship to get them from one place to the next one. Personally, Izanami thought that it they would make more progress travelling on land rather than water. How else are they supposed to find Iroh and Zuko when they’re probably miles away from them?

Azula spent most of her time training, by herself and with Izanami. Izanami always appreciated Azula’s help when it came to her firebending. Under her direction, Izanami was able to improve and strengthen it far beyond what she could do on her own. It still amazed Izanami that Azula was only fourteen, yet she managed to possess as much power as she did. She could frighten anyone, even Izanami at times.

Izanami was currently resting in her room after a training session with Azula when there was a knock on her door. She opened it to see one of Azula’s many servants standing there. Izanami didn’t even bother learning their names since there was so many of them.

“What is it?” Izanami asked.

“Princess Azula has requested your presence on the ships deck,” the servant replied.

Izanami nodded, “Thank you. I can make it from here on my own.”

The servant bowed as he walked away. It felt weird whenever Azula’s servants waited on her, since Izanami could take care of myself just fine. Unlike Izanami, Azula thrived on having her servants do everything for her. Once Izanami was dressed in the appropriate clothing, she made her way to the ships deck which was where Azula was waiting for her, along with her mentors, Lo and Li. Several other guards were bowing down in two separate lines in front of her.

“You requested my presence, Princess Azula?” Izanami asked with a hint of uncertainty, since she wasn’t really sure if this was a formal occasion or not.

“Yes, and there is no need to be formal with me, Izana. Please stand by my side,” Azula said.

Izanami nodded and did as told, “Not that I don’t want to be here, but why am I here?”

“We have made little progress on our mission to capture my failure of a brother and my traitorous uncle. We need to regroup and come up with a stronger plan so that we can succeed in our mission. Father cannot be disappointed. I have asked Lo and Li for their input and as I have said to you before, I value your opinion as well,” Azula explained.

“Well, I do think that we would be able to move much faster without this ship,” Izanami admitted.

“Miss Izanami has a point, Princess,” the twin on Azula’s right agreed with her.

“When tracking your brother and uncle, travelling with the royal procession may no longer be an option,” the one on her left started.

“May no longer be wise,” the twin on her right finished.

“If you hope to keep the element of surprise,” they both said in unison, which freaked Izanami out just like it always did when they spoke like that.

“You’re right,” Azula agreed, “The Royal Procession is dead weight. If I want to catch my prey, I must be agile, nimble. I need a small, elite team. It’s time to visit some old friends.”

Izanami raised her eyebrows. Azula hardly had any people that she’d consider ‘friends’ since the notion of friendship was almost foreign to her. Izanami then realised that there could be only two people she was referring to.

“You mean Mai and Ty Lee?” Izanami asked.

“Yes. Lo and Li, you are dismissed. I want a carriage ready for myself and Izanami within the next ten minutes,” Azula ordered.

“Yes, Princess,” Lo and Li said before leaving us alone.

“You are all dismissed as well,” Azula said to the guards who were bowing in front of her, who did as they were told.

“So, what are we going to do now?” Izanami asked.

“Were going to find our old friends and form an elite team so we can successfully track down Iroh and Zuko,” Azula replied.

“But, didn’t Ty Lee run off to join the circus? And we haven’t seen Mai in over a year too,” Izanami pointed out.

“No worries. I know exactly where they are now, so it shouldn’t be a problem. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t keep tabs on them?” Azula asked.

Izanami raised her eyebrows, “Right.”

“We’ll be leaving shortly, so I suggest you go and get anything that might be necessary for us,” Azula suggested.

“Okay. I’ll meet you then, Azula,” Izanami said before heading off to my room.

Izanami really shouldn’t have been surprised that Azula would know exactly where Mai and Ty Lee were. She was the kind of person to know where everyone was, even people that she didn’t like. The last time Izanami had seen Ty Lee was almost two years ago, when she said that she was running off to join the circus. That didn’t really surprise Izanami, since Ty Lee was always crazily flexible. As for Mai, the two rarely saw much of each other since her father was always off doing Fire Lord Ozai’s deeds for him, so Izanami hadn’t seen her in over a year.

But it looked like that was all about to change.

~*•°•*~

It didn’t take Azula and Izanami long to find the circus where Ty Lee was. When Azula said she knew _exactly_ where she was, she wasn’t kidding. It was a day after they’d left Azula’s ship when the girls arrived at Ty Lee’s circus. Now all they had to do was find her. Izanami figured that it shouldn’t be too hard to find someone like Ty Lee. She did always have her quirks.

“I never would’ve expected Ty Lee to end up in a place like… this,” Izanami admitted, glancing around at where they were.

Truth be told, Izanami had never been to a circus before. From what she’d heard, it was a place of uncultured nonsense, but Izanami had a feeling that was just the Fire Nation’s propaganda at work. Not that she agreed with it, the place did appear to be rather… uncultured.

“We’ll be doing her a favour by getting her out of here,” Azula agreed, “Now all we have to do is find her.”

They spent a few minutes walking around, not wanting to make a big scene with their appearance. Not many people noticed them or even reacted to them, which surprised Izanami since one of them was the Fire Nation Princess. But Azula didn’t seem too bothered by that. After looking around for a while, Izanami caught the sight of a familiar plait up ahead and she knew that it could only belong to one person.

Izanami nudged Azula, “She’s over there.”

“Ah, there she is. Just let me do the talking, Izana,” Azula said as they walked towards their old friend.

When they found where Ty Lee was, she was standing on her index fingers. Ty Lee’s flexibility always astounded Izanami, since she never understood how a person could be _that_ flexible. Ty Lee didn’t seem to notice us when we arrived, though.

“Ty Lee, could that possibly be you?” Azula asked once they reached her.

That seemed to get her attention as Ty Lee’s face instantly lit up in a smile when her eyes landed on the two girls standing in front of her.

“Azula!” Ty Lee exclaimed.

Ty Lee then flipped from her stance and spun around in a graceful twirl to bow down before Azula. She then ran forward to embrace Azula in a hug.

“It is so good to see you!” Ty Lee exclaimed before hugging Izanami as well, “And you too, Izana.”

“I’ve missed you, Ty Lee,” Izanami said, smiling.

“Please, don’t let us interrupt your…” Azula trailed off as she raised an eyebrow in wonder, “whatever it is you were doing.”

Ty Lee smiled as she did a back flip and ended up lying on her chest with one leg stretched out over her head and the other straight up to the sky. It seemed as though the circus had only enhanced her flexibility.

“Tell me, what is the daughter of a nobleman doing here?” Azula asked as she glanced around before glancing back at Ty Lee, “Certainly our parents didn’t send us to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls to end up in…” Azula trailed off as she looked to her side, “places like this.”

Azula and Izanami glanced to their side as three men tried to move a platypus bear. The Bear groaned and moved up to reveal that it had laid an egg. Azula and Izanami shared a look of disgust before turning their attention back to Ty Lee, who was still grinning even at the sight of the disgusting egg.

“I have a proposition for you,” Azula began, which grabbed Ty Lee’s attention as she glanced at her in wonder while Azula looked casually at her nails, “I’m hunting a traitor. You remember my old fuddy-duddy uncle, don’t you?”

Ty Lee rested on her chest and elbows, but now with both of her feet resting on her head, “Oh yeah. He was so funny.”

Izanami couldn’t help but agree with her. Iroh did always have a sense of humour. Azula never really appreciated it though. She was too busy being the perfect daughter that Ozai wanted her to be.

“I would be honoured if you would join me on my mission,” Azula offered.

“Oh… I… uh… would love to,” Ty Lee trailed off as she stood up in a fluidly elegant movement while she smiled happily, “But the truth is, I’m really happy here. I mean, my aura has never been pinker!”

Azula raised up her hand in a “stop” motion to Ty Lee, “I’ll take your word for it. Well, I wouldn’t want you to give up the life you love just to please me.”

Izanami raised her eyebrow out of curiosity. Azula seemed set on having Ty Lee join us, there was no way that she would just give up. She had a feeling that Azula wouldn’t be letting this go lightly.

Ty Lee bowed in respect, “Thank you, Azula.”

She then continued stretching as the two of them walked away before Azula addressed her, “Of course, before I leave, I’m going to catch your show. Izana as well, of course.”

There it was. Now Izanami _knew_ that Azula had something up her sleeve. Out of the corner of her eye, Izanami saw Ty Lee break her stance and heard a slight gasp, almost in panic. She continued her stretch once more and Izanami could tell that she was now worried. Azula had that effect on people.

“Uh… yeah… sure… uh… of course…” Ty Lee trailed off hesitantly.

The two girls walked in silence until they left the circus area. All Izanami could say was that it certainly lived up to the Fire Nation’s propaganda.

“You’re not giving up on this, aren’t you?” Izanami asked.

Azula nodded, “You know me too well, Izana.”

~*•°•*~

When night rolled around, Azula and Izanami made their we back to the circus where Ty Lee would be performing that night. Izanami wasn’t too sure how Azula was going to get Ty Lee to join them, but Izanami decided not to question her antics. Of course, Azula had to get the best seat in the house which was practically a giant box with two guards by her side. Izanami only had a small seat to sit on compared to Azula’s. Izanami was just a mere peasant compared to her. Down below, two performers dressed in dragons were dancing around in front of the circus master who turned to address the crowd.

“We’re deeply honoured to have the Fire Lord’s daughter at our humble circus,” he addressed them.

“Not humble enough to welcome my dear friend as well,” Azula said, gesturing to Izanami as she gave him a nervous wave.

“The Princess’s dearest friend has also joined us for the evening as well,” the circus master added nervously.

Azula nodded in approval, “Much better.”

The circus master glanced back at Azula, “Uh… tell us if there is anything we can do to make the show more enjoyable.”

“I will,” Azula replied.

High above the circus ring, Ty Lee balanced on a rope, high up in the air on one hand over a net. She was wearing rather colourful clothing. Ty Lee probably enjoyed that, since she always wore bright clothing when she was free to do so. Both Azula and Izanami were impressed with Ty Lee’s performance. That was certainly something that Izanami knew she couldn’t do. Izanami could only imagine the amount of hours and training that Ty Lee must’ve had to go through to perfect herself.

“Incredible,” Azula praised her, “Do you think she’ll fall?”

“Of course not,” the circus master replied confidently.

“Then wouldn’t it be more interesting if you removed the net?” Azula asked nonchalantly, looking directly down at the circus master. Izanami was beginning to see where Azula was going with this, which made her worried for Ty Lee.

The circus master had a concerned look on his face as he trailed off, “Uh… the thing is… the performers…”

“You’re right, you’re right. That’s been done,” Azula interrupted him with a dismissive wave before continuing in a dark tone of pleasure, “I know. Set the net on fire.”

“Of course, Princess,” the circus master replied worriedly.

With a worried look on his face, the circus master left the box to set the net on fire. Izanami glanced at Azula who smirked at her as she watched Ty Lee’s performance. For her sake, Izanami hoped that Ty Lee wouldn’t let the pressure get to her. Izanami could see that the circus master was balling his fists and clenching his teeth, so he could only be hopping that his act would survive this one.

“Brilliant, just brilliant!” Azula praised ecstatically as she looked down at the circus master as she happily asked, “Ooh, what kind of dangerous animals do you have?”

The circus master looked up at Azula with a look of hope on his face. He must’ve thought he could change the subject to save Ty Lee from her burning peril. But Izanami knew where Azula was going with this.

“Well, our circus boasts the most exotic assortment –“ he began.

“Release them all!” Azula interrupted him.

The circus master looked utterly shocked by Azula’s command, even Izanami was at what she was ordering. It wasn’t long before several animals came running into the circus, echoing loud noises throughout the room. Izanami leaned down towards Azula, wanting to distract her from causing Ty Lee anymore trouble.

“What are you doing?” Izanami hissed.

Azula grinned, “Just trust me, Izana. Do you _really_ think that I would purposefully hurt Ty Lee?”

“I’m not sure,” Izanami admitted.

Azula shrugged, “Fair enough. Now sit back and enjoy the show!”

Izanami sighed as I sat back in my seat, knowing that there was nothing she could do to stop Azula from doing what she wanted. There were times when the Princess would listen to Izanami, but she knew that this wasn’t one of them.

~*•°•*~

Much to Izanami’s relief, Ty Lee had managed to survive her dangerous performance. Azula didn’t just stop after ordering the circus master to let out the wild animals. Once she was bored of that, Azula ordered him to fire all sorts of obstacles her way, but Ty Lee successfully remained on her pole. Izanami was relieved too, since even though Azula might be a cold person, Izanami knew that she wouldn’t be okay if Ty Lee had seriously hurt herself.

After the performance was over, Azula and Izanami went to visit Ty Lee in her dressing room. When we walked in, Izanami could see all sorts of circus material in there as Ty Lee sat at her desk and looked through the mirror in front of her.

“What an exquisite performance. I can’t wait to see how you’ll top yourself tomorrow,” Azula praised her.

“You were really great, Ty Lee. What you did tonight was something I could only dream of doing,” Izanami added.

Ty Lee smiled at us in the mirror, “I’m sorry guys, but unfortunately there won’t be a show tomorrow.”

“Really?” Azula asked nonchalantly as Ty Lee went to hang up her tiara.

“Why not?” Izanami asked.

“The universe has given me strong hints that it’s time for a career change,” Ty Lee replied as she got up and turned to face us, “I want to join you on your mission.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Izanami saw a satisfied grin creep onto Azula’s face as she pondered Ty Lee’s words. The ‘universe’ huh? More like Azula’s unorthodox methods.

“Excellent, Ty Lee. I hate to rush you, but we do not have much time to waste so I suggest you pack now and meet us at the front. We’ll pass the message onto the circus master that you won’t be of his service anymore, won’t we Izana?” Azula said.

Izanami sighed, “Of course we will.”

Although they weren’t the methods that Izanami would’ve use, Azula’s tactics had managed to get Ty Lee on board with them. Now that they had Ty Lee on their side, all they had to do was find Mai. And Izanami had a feeling that it wouldn’t be too hard to convince Mai to join them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally had more of this chapter written, but when I was writing it towards the end I decided to leave the rest out and leave it for the next chapter.


	8. Squad Goals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I mentioned at the end of the last chapter, I already had about 1800 words written for this one before I decided to split it in half.

In all honesty, Izanami wasn’t expecting it to be as easy as it was to convince Ty Lee to join her and Azula, but Izanami figured that Azula’s manipulation managed to sway her opinion. Ty Lee even seemed excited about the prospect of travelling with them, even more so when they mentioned Mai. They left the circus that same night and not that Izanami had any major problems with that place, she was just glad to not be at the circus anymore. With Ty Lee on board with them, there was three of their old foursome together and now they were just missing Mai to have the group complete. All they had to do was find her and then it would be done.

Once Azula, Ty Lee and Izanami made it back to Azula’s ship, they were quick to head to their next direction to find Mai. Izanami was somewhat surprised when she found out that Mai was now living in Omashu, but then Izanami remembered that her father had played an integral role in the city’s capture. Now Ba Sing Se was the last remaining stronghold fighting against the Fire Nation and with Ozai’s ambitions mixed with Azula’s brain, Izanami had a feeling that it wouldn’t be too long before Ba Sing Se fell as well. Azula was quick to send them off in the direction of Omashu, a place where Izanami hadn’t yet visited.

Omashu was certainly unlike any city in the Fire Nation that Izanami had ever seen before. It was surrounded my so many mountains which made it almost impossible to get to, but of course the Fire Nation managed to find their way in somehow. Izanami felt a strange feeling inside of her whenever she thought of the people who had been run out of their home. For most of them it was probably where they lived their whole lives and now it’s been taken over by some power-hungry nation. The whole time they travelled together, Ty Lee kept on going off about how ‘great’ it was going to be to have the ‘squad’ as she put it back together. Izanami cringed whenever she referred to them that way, but she knew that was Ty Lee for you.

Eventually they arrived at Omashu and Azula being Azula was carried in on the palanquin by her servants as Ty Lee and Izanami walked behind her. At the base of one of the stairs in the city, they found Mai standing there as she waited for them. Mai hardly looked any different from the last time Izanami saw her. Still as dark and depressing as usual. That’s Mai summed up in a nutshell. Azula stepped out of her palanquin as Ty Lee and Izanami followed her to Mai, who bowed when Azula walked up to her.

“Please tell me you’re here to kill me,” Mai said nonchalantly as she looked up at Azula with a slight smile on her otherwise emotionless features before both of them started to laugh.

“It’s great to see you, Mai,” Azula greeted her as she placed her hands on Mai’s shoulders.

Ty Lee then rushed forward to give Mai a big hug, who uncomfortably patted her on her back a little with her left hand.

“I thought you ran off and joined the circus. You said it was your calling,” Mai said.

“Well,” Ty Lee said as she released Mai, “Azula called a little louder.”

Mai slightly glanced at Izanami as she raised her eyebrows. The two of them weren’t exactly ‘best friends’ when they were growing up, but they still hung out together. Only because of Azula, though.

“Still as miserable as ever, Mai?” Izanami asked.

“Even more so ever since my parents sent me to this Agni forsaken place,” Mai muttered. It always amazed Izanami how a person could be so… miserable like Mai was.

“I have a mission and I need you both,” Azula announced, getting right to the chase as she placed a hand on Mai and Ty Lee’s shoulders.

“Count me in,” Mai said quickly, “Anything to get me out of this place.”

“Isn’t this great? The whole squad is back together now!” Ty Lee exclaimed as she brought them all in for a hug, “Are we squad goals or what?”

“Can you please stop referring to us as that?” Izanami asked as she carefully pulled herself away from the hug. It wasn’t that Izanami wasn’t a fan of affection or anything, Ty Lee was just _overly_ affectionate which annoyed Izanami. Similar to Mai, Izanami couldn’t understand how someone could be so… happy all of the time. Even Izanami had her Mai moments and she figured that Ty Lee’s probably never had one of those in her entire life.

“Where do we go now?” Ty Lee asked.

“I need to speak with Mai’s parents before we move on,” Azula replied.

“I’ll lead the way,” Mai conceded.

As awkward as it first felt to be back with her friends, Izanami still couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about the old times they shared together. They certainly had some memorable moments, and it was going to be interesting to see how this all played out.

~*•°•*~

In no time at all, they were escorted to Mai’s parents who visibly tensed when the laid eyes on Azula. It always amazed Izanami how people could be so afraid of her. Izanami wouldn’t be the first to admit that Azula wasn’t exactly the _nicest_ person, but she had her moments. Izanami guessed that she was the only person to ever see those. Once the introductions had passed, they were taken to a separate room with Mai’s parents. Azula sat on the throne of Omashu, flanked by two guards as the rest of them sat down before her.

“I apologise,” Mai’s father, Ukano said as he squatted down on a pillow, “you’ve come to Omashu at a difficult time. At noon, we’re making a trade with the resistance to get Tom-Tom back.”

“Yes, I’m so sorry to hear about your son,” Azula apologised in a way that made Izanami think she wasn’t really sorry at all. She then crossed her legs as she clasped her hands, “But really, what did you expect just by letting all the citizens leave?”

Azula then stood up as she addressed the governor in a harsher tone, “My father has trusted you with this city and you’re making a mess of things!” she emphasized her words with a hand gesture.

“Forgive me, Princess,” the governor apologised as he and his wife prostrated themselves before her.

Azula then walked between the four bowing people in front of her as she looked down upon the governor while Izanami, Mai and Ty Lee stood up.

“You stay here, Mai will handle the hostage trade, so you don’t have a chance to mess it up,” Azula ordered the governor and his wife as she continued, “And there is no more “Omashu.” I’m renaming it in honour of my father, the city of New Ozai.”

With that, the four of them left Mai’s grovelling parents as we headed towards the destination of where the hostage trade would be taking place. What surprised Izanami was by how little Mai seemed phased by her brothers supposed kidnapping. If that was her brother, Izanami would be doing anything she could to rescue him. Izanami shook her head, not wanting those thoughts to bother me anymore. As hard as it was for her to accept, not every family was like Izanami’s and that was something to be expected in a place like the Fire Nation where status and work was more important than the people you cared most about.

~*•°•*~

When noon arrived, they made their way towards the scaffolding near a giant statue of Ozai that was still in its construction process. As they walked across a large wooden scaffold, Izanami saw three other people standing on the other side. Izanami noticed that the one in the middle was dressed in orange and yellow clothing, with some piece of fabric covering his head. The two behind him were clad in blue clothing, which Izanami assumed made them Water Tribe.

 _What would they be doing in Omashu? And how did they end up with Mai’s brother? They barely looked like teenagers for Agni’s sake!_ Izanami thought.

An eerie silence filled the air as the two groups stood opposite each other. A slight rocking noise could be heard from above and Izanami looked up to see a crane lowering a metal cage. Inside the metal cage was the former King of Omashu, with only his head showing. From what Izanami had heard about him, the former King was a master earthbender, one of the finest in the world. That would explain why he was encased entirely in a metal cage, so he couldn’t bend.

“Hi, everybody!” he greeted us as he chuckled loudly. Izanami thought that he seemed to be in pretty good spirits for somebody who was being held hostage in his own city. His cage eventually touched the ground behind the four girls.

“You brought my brother?” Mai asked.

“He’s here,” the boy dressed in yellow and orange proclaimed, “we’re ready to trade.”

Suddenly, Azula turned to Mai as she spoke, “I’m sorry, but a thought just occurred to me. Do you mind?”

“Of course not, Princess Azula,” Mai replied.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Izanami could see the king following their conversation as his eyes shifted from one speaker to the other.

“We’re trading a two year old for a king,” Azula stated as she looked at him, “A powerful, earthbending king?”

The King nodded, “Mmm hmmm!”

“It just doesn’t seem like a fair trade, does it?” Azula asked. Here we go. Izanami figured that Azula was about to throw another spanner in the works. Up ahead, she could see Mai’s brother, Tom-Tom yawn happily as he rested his head against the other boy’s shoulder.

“You’re right,” Mai agreed before she declared, “the deal’s off!”

Izanami’s eyes widened in surprise at Mai as she held up her hand, gesturing the guards to pull the King back up. Is she seriously going to just forget about her brother like that? He was just a kid, with a bunch of kids!

“Whoa! See you all later!” the King exclaimed as he was suspended in the air once again.

“Bumi!” the kid in orange and yellow exclaimed.

He then sprinted forward with some stick in his hands. He seemed to be travelling faster than what you’d expect from someone like that. Azula tried to halt his advances as she blocked his path with a mighty stream of blue flames. The kid dodged them by leaping high up into the air. Izanami was surprised to see this, even more surprised to see that Azula shared her same reaction. The kid briefly touched the scaffolding around the statue and pushed himself off, opening the stick in mid-air, revealing it as a glider. While he opened it, the piece of cloth on his head fell off, revealing a blue arrow tattoo exposed as he held onto the hat with his teeth. Izanami’s eyes widened even further as she realised what that it could only mean one thing…

“The Avatar!” Azula exclaimed, stealing the words right from Izanami’s thoughts before she smirked smugly, “My lucky day.”

Azula then ran over to a nearby pulley and blasted through the rope that served as a break, causing the winch to spin rapidly. Izanami saw her grab onto the rope and she was instantly pulled up through the scaffolding to chase after the Avatar, leaving them to deal with the Water Tribe siblings. The three of them charged towards their opponents, ready to fight them so they could get Mai’s brother, Tom-Tom back. If not for Mai, but for her parents. Mai readied her stiletto’s while the girl took on a defensive position.

“We’ve got to get the baby out of here!” she exclaimed.

Up ahead, Izanami could see her brother blowing on some sort of whistle as he looked at her with a big smile, “Way ahead of ya!”

Izanami saw Tom-Tom reach for the whistle and he also started playing with it. He didn’t seem too phased for a kid that was kidnapped. The pair started running to the edge of the big platform when suddenly, the brother fell over and slid towards the edge. Izanami was surprised for a moment before she realised that Ty Lee wasn’t behind them and that she was now jumping out of the hole in the floor as she headed course for the boy. What surprised Izanami was that the girl bended water from some sort of pouch in an attempt to attack her.

Just when Izanami was about to react, she saw that Mai was already one step ahead of her as she threw four knives at the other girl, but she reacted quickly by using some sort of water whip to raise up several wooden planks. She just barely managed to miss the knives piercing her face before she used the water whip to shoot the wooden boards towards them, with the stilettos lodged in them. Thinking quickly, Izanami punched a blast of fire towards the planks, destroying them. The waterbender then turned around to grab Ty Lee by the ankle with her water whip, which she managed to do and pull her to the ground. That gave her brother the chance he needed to get up and head towards a nearby ladder, sliding down the scaffolding. Izanami figured that he’d be back for his sister soon, so there would be time to deal with him later.

With Ty Lee’s leg captured by her water whip, Izanami sent a stream of fire to free her, but she still ended up falling on the ground. The waterbender then sent another water whip towards Izanami, but she destroyed it with her fire. Izanami could see the panic set in on her face once she realised that she had no more water to bend, before her expression turned to a grin of satisfaction. Izanami’s eyes widened as she caught the sight of two large buckets of water, which she used to bend spears of ice towards them but like before, Izanami shattered them with her firebending. Mai also continued to fire her daggers and stilettos at her, giving Ty Lee the opportunity to do her thing. But the waterbender sensed her coming and splashed a small wave at Ty Lee, which sent her flying into the air, but she landed safely on a nearby pole.

As Izanami prepared herself for another strike, the waterbender suddenly sent a larger amount of water towards her that she barely had time to react to. The waterbender didn’t even bother aiming it towards Mai, she just sent it right towards Izanami and it landed heavily on the ground, causing Izanami to stumble back a few feet. While she was doing so, Izanami felt another splash of water in her face that was enough to send her over the edge of the platform, but Izanami managed to grab onto a pole to keep herself from falling. In that moment, Izanami was angry at herself for letting the other girl best her like that, so Izanami used that to fuel her bending as she propelled herself into the air with her fire jets.

When Izanami landed back on the platform, she saw that the waterbender now had Mai’s entire arm encased with ice as Mai tried to break the ice, only to fail. Izanami was about to react, but she then saw Ty Lee climbing onto the platform from behind the waterbender, and Izanami knew that this would be enough to give them the victory. Ty Lee climbed onto the platform behind the waterbender and bounced forward before hitting her with several quick jabs on her arms. The waterbender was easily surprised by the attack and lost control over her water stream that splashed onto the ground. She tried to raise the water again, but it only moved a little. Izanami grinned, knowing that this meant defeat for her and victory for them.

“How are you gonna fight without your bending?” Mai taunted.

“Um, excuse me?” Izanami asked, somewhat offended.

Mai didn’t bother responding to her as she pulled out a sai from her robe and took aim at the waterbender, who gasped in shock. Just as Mai was about to throw the weapon, something came flying through the air and knocked it out of her hand. The three girls spun around to see her brother on some sort of flying beast.

“I seem to manage!” he exclaimed as he caught the flying object.

The animal landed between the waterbender and them. As it landed, he slammed his tail hard on the ground, sending the three of them flying off the scaffolding. Again, for Izanami.

“Grab onto my arms!” Izanami yelled.

Mai and Ty Lee did just that as Izanami kicked out a blast of fire that sent the three of them flying onto a nearby platform. It was a rocky landing, but it was better than landing flat on the ground.

“What was that thing?” Ty Lee asked as she got up.

“I think it was the Avatar’s flying bison. He’s been spot with them during their travels,” Izanami replied.

“Well, that was just a waste of time,” Mai muttered.

“All I know is that Azula isn’t going to be happy with us,” Izanami muttered.

~*•°•*~

Sure enough, when they met back up with Azula at the main building of Omashu – or New Ozai Izanami guessed you could say – she wasn’t pleased with them for failing at apprehending the Water Tribe siblings. But when Izanami mentioned that Azula returned empty handed as well without the Avatar, she let it go. Once they regrouped, Azula officially debriefed Mai and Ty Lee on her mission as the four girls left the city, Azula riding the palanquin as the three of then walked beside her.

“So, we’re tracking down your brother and Uncle, huh?” Mai asked.

“It’ll be interesting seeing Zuko again, won’t it Mai?” Ty lee teased as she turned to face Mai.

Mai looked away from them, but Izanami could still see the small smile on her face. Izanami had almost forgotten about her little crush on Zuko. It was kind of cute, and Izanami remembered all of the pranks that Azula and her pulled on them when they were younger.

“Mai and Zuko, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” Izanami sang teasingly.

“Shut it, you two,” Mai hissed, the smile gone from her face.

“It’s not just Zuko and Iroh anymore,” Azula announced before continuing on a serious tone, “We have a third target now.”

Izanami raised her eyebrows, “the Avatar?”

“Who else?” Azula asked.

“How are we gonna split our time between tracking down Zuko and Iroh, as well as the Avatar?” Izanami asked.

“It shouldn’t be too hard. Zuzu should still be hunting the Avatar. So, there’s a good chance that at some stage, we’ll come across them as well,” Azula replied in a dangerously low voice.

Izanami sighed as she realised that Azula was back into her threatening mode. When she was like this, it was hard to get Azula to think of anything else. Izanami had learned from experience. Now that they were hunting the Avatar as well as Iroh and Zuko, it was safe to say that they had their work cut out for them. But Izanami knew that Azula wasn’t going to stop until she got what was hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now I’m kind of glad that I split these chapters in half, since at once it would’ve been like 6000 words and I wanna keep the chapters relatively short for this story. I wasn’t really too sure how to write Izanami into the fighting scene with Katara and Sokka without making it too easy for them, so I gave her a few moments but also some downfalls.


	9. Grand Scheme of Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In all honesty, I almost forgot about this chapter before I realised that it had been almost a week since I last updated, so I figured that I’d give you guys something. This ones a bit of a filler one, since there isn’t really any action but there’s some good bonding moments in there for everyone. This chapter takes place sometime around Avatar Day.

Soon after they left Omashu – or New Ozai as it was now called – Azula, Izanami, Mai and Ty Lee travelled to Hu Xin, one of the many colonies in the Earth Kingdom that were under Fire Nation rule. There were several provinces in the area, and Azula being Azula made sure that she and her friend got the most luxurious one as their pit stop. Azula didn’t tell her friends how long they would be staying there, she just told them that she was working on a little project that would help them during their travels. Izanami rarely saw Azula in that time, which gave her more time to spend with Mai and Ty Lee.

It wasn’t that Izanami had anything against them personally, Mai and Ty Lee just never really… meshed as well as Azula and Izanami did. Mai was just too depressing for Izanami to be around, while Ty Lee could be a bit suffocating at times. Both Azula and Izanami weren’t really the touchy-feely type, which was something that Ty Lee was yet to understand. Sometimes Izanami questioned why they were even friends with Azula, since Azula is a cold and demanding person, which is the exact opposite of Ty Lee. As for Mai, she just doesn’t really have Azula’s zest as Izanami called it.

Izanami, Mai and Ty Lee were currently lounging around in their room, which was arguably the size of Izanami’s house back at home. Izanami sighed longingly as she thought about home. The person that she thought the most about was her mother. Izanami and her mother were always close, since her father was always off doing his work. Izanami knew that her mother was hesitant about letting her travel with Azula, but she understood why her daughter had to go. Izanami’s mind then drifted to her brother, who she hadn’t heard from in almost three years. The last time Izanami had heard anything from he was when he wrote to her on her twelfth birthday. Her brother would be twenty-four now. As for her father, Izanami never really had the bond with him like she had with her mother. They got along civilly, they just didn’t have your stereotypical father-daughter relationship.

It was kind of ironic how different Izanami’s family was compared to Azula’s. Izanami’s mother was her rock, and she didn’t know what she’d do without her. Azula despised her mother and would rather her stay wherever she is. Izanami missed her brother more than she ever thought she could, while Azula would happily kill her own brother if she had to. Izanami’s father and her were hardly close, while Azula was what most people called a daddy’s girl. Sometimes Izanami even wondered how _they_ were even friends, but they somehow made it work despite the obvious differences. Azula was the one person in the world that Izanami had ever really called a friend.

“So, what do you guys think we should do now?” Ty Lee suddenly asked, snapping Izanami out of her thoughts.

“There’s nothing to do here,” Mai muttered.

“She’s kind of right. We’ve already seen everything there is to see, and let me say, it’s nothing special,” Izanami added.

“But I’m bored. Aren’t you guys bored too?” Ty Lee prolonged.

“I’m perfectly happy with staying here until Azula comes back from whatever it is she’s doing,” Mai said.

“Speaking of which, what do you guys think she’s doing?” Ty Lee inquired.

Izanami shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“You mean you don’t know what she’s planning?” Ty Lee asked.

“I only know what she told you guys. You two know just as well as I do that Azula isn’t one for giving away her plans until the moment of truth,” Izanami replied.

“I just hope it speeds up the process. Now she’s got us chasing her brother and uncle along with the Avatar,” Mai said.

“But you have no problem with the Zuko part, don’t you?” Izanami teased.

Mai glared at me, “Will you guys cut that out?”

“Come on, Mai. We always thought you and Zuko were cute together. Too bad he’s a traitor now,” Ty Lee mused.

“They could still have some sweet, forbidden romance,” Izanami suggested.

Ty Lee clapped her hands excitedly, “Oh, that’s exciting. I’ve always loved the idea of forbidden love. It seems so romantic.”

“What’s so exciting about being in a forbidden romance?” Mai asked in her usual melancholy voice.

“The excitement of sneaking around, knowing the consequences if you get caught but still doing it anyways. It’s like having a dirty little secret, but it’s so intoxicating,” Ty Lee replied.

“Have you been reading romance novels lately, Ty Lee?” Izanami asked.

Ty Lee giggled, “No. I just love love. How about you, Izana? What have you been up to?”

“Well, I hardly have the time to read any romance novels since I’m on Azula’s mission,” Izanami replied sarcastically.

“No, silly. What have you been up to since I last saw you?” Ty Lee asked.

“Oh. Well, not much, really. I’ve just been spending time with Azula, training while helping around the house,” Izanami replied.

“How is your mom? I always liked her. She baked us cookies,” Ty Lee said.

“My mom’s been alright. It’s just been hard on us without our dad there to support us while my brothers off fighting. Last I heard, he got promoted to Lieutenant sometime last year,” Izanami replied.

“It’s a shame we’ve never met your brother. By the way you talk about him, he seems really cool,” Ty Lee said.

Izanami smiled, “Yeah, he was pretty cool. We’d always pull pranks together and get into all sorts of mischief. Other than Azula, he was the only person I ever really considered a best friend.”

“Has Azula changed at all since I last saw her?” Ty Lee asked.

“You mean you can’t see it?” Izanami asked dubiously.

Ty Lee shrugged, “She doesn’t really seem that different.”

“Well, she is a lot more serious with her training. Ever since she got her blue fire she’s been more intense than ever. It’s kind of scary watching her train with lightning. But she’s still just as strong and determined as she’s ever been,” Izanami explained.

“Oh. It’s kind of crazy to think that Azula could have that much power. When I first heard of her blue fire, I was shocked. I didn’t even think that was possible,” Ty Lee admitted.

“Neither did Azula, or even Ozai. But apparently, it’s because her fire burns hotter than the usual red fire,” Izanami said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she manages to surpass Ozai’s skills in a few years. I mean, everyone calls him the most powerful firebender, but Azula’s pretty powerful too,” Ty Lee noted.

Izanami nodded in agreement, “Well, Azula is determined to one day best her father. It’s the only thing she trains towards now she’s overpowered everyone else.”

“I don’t know how you even deal with it,” Mai suddenly said.

“What do you mean?” Izanami asked as she turned to face Mai who was still lounging on her chair as she twirled her dagger around.

“How can you deal with Azula constantly being on your case?” Mai asked, “I could hardly handle her back when I was still in Caldera City.”

Izanami shrugged, “You get used to it overtime. I’ve learned not to question whatever she does. That only makes her mad and things always work out in the end.”

“I don’t see why she needed _our_ help,” Mai said.

“What’s wrong with our help?” Ty Lee asked.

“I figured that Azula would always do something like this solo. She always did say if you want something done right that you have to do it yourself. Guess she’s not that powerful then,” Mai replied.

Izanami raised an eyebrow, “Um, Azula could incinerate you on the spot with a single lightning strike before you could even fire a single dagger. I wouldn’t question her power if I were you.”

“Besides, I thought you wanted to come with us, Mai,” Ty Lee noted.

“Yeah, because I thought it would be more exciting than what Omashu had to offer. I’d been seeing nothing but the same thing for weeks,” Mai complained.

“Technically it’s New Ozai now,” Izanami pointed out.

“Whatever. Azula better come back with something for us to do. Otherwise I might just go back to New Ozai,” Mai said.

“Come on, it’s only been like two weeks since we left. We have to track down the Avatar or Iroh and Zuko before we can even do anything,” Ty Lee reasoned.

“Why can’t we just do the tracking ourselves?” Mai asked.

“Well, we don’t really have that much for transportation. We need something fast if we’re gonna be able to track them down. I mean, we are competing with a flying bison,” Izanami replied.

“I thought those were extinct,” Ty Lee said.

Izanami rolled her eyes, “Yeah, just like how people thought the airbenders were extinct. But they’ve still got one alive and kicking.”

“It must be fun to fly,” Ty Lee said.

“Um, what?” Izanami asked, slightly amused.

“Well, you saw what the Avatar did at Omashu. He pulled out his glider and actually _flied_. I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to fly,” Ty Lee replied.

“It’s probably as empty as your head,” Mai muttered, causing me to snort with laughter.

“What?” Ty Lee asked as she looked between us.

Izanami sighed, “It’s nothing.”

“It’s always nothing. Why can’t I know?” Ty Lee asked.

“Trust me, you don’t want to,” Izanami said.

“Ugh, fine. Oh, I know what we should do. We should play cartwheels!” Ty Lee exclaimed.

“Ty Lee, we haven’t played the game since we were nine. Besides, you always beat us,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, but it was fun,” Ty Lee said.

“For you,” Mai muttered.

“Why don’t you guys never wanna do fun stuff? What’s wrong with a little fun in your lives?” Ty Lee asked.

“Everything,” Mai replied dryly.

Izanami chuckled to herself as she carefully slipped out of the room undetected, not wanting to be a part of the conversation anymore. Unlike Azula, Izanami wasn’t really that much of a talker, especially when it was something that she didn’t really want to talk about. Speaking of Azula, Izanami had realised that she’d probably been gone for about three hours now. Whatever she was working on had to be hard since it was taking up as much time as it was.

As Izanami walked down the long hallway, she couldn’t help but think back on her conversation with Ty Lee. It made Izanami miss home and her family more than she already was. Being away from them made Izanami appreciate them more than what she did before. Izanami hoped that they were doing okay, especially her father and her brother. Izanami didn’t know what she’d do with herself if they didn’t come back. When Izanami thought about her brother, Kazu, it was always about something good. There was never any bad moment with him. Sure, they had your typical sibling fights, but they were still close despite the nine-year age gap between them.

It was no secret to Izanami that she was unplanned by her parents. It was pretty obvious, since there was a nine-year age gap between her brother and her for Agni’s sake. Izanami’s father was forty while her mother was thirty-five when they had Izanami. Growing up, Izanami’s father always did show some resentment towards her, which she reciprocated to some degree. Izanami always figured that it was because he at least wanted her to be a boy and because she couldn’t do what Kazu could. Only when Izanami became close with Azula did her father ever show a sudden interest in his daughter’s personal life. Before then he only ever cared about Izanami’s success in school and her bending. Izanami guessed that’s why she was always close with her mother, since her dad practically ignored her. Izanami was never really the ‘Golden Child’ as her parents put it. She knew she could never live up to Kazu and his accomplishments, but Izanami was fine with that.

Another one of the differences between Azula and Izanami was the fact that Azula _craved_ perfection. Everything had to be perfect for Azula, while Izanami couldn’t care less about that. To her, perfection was overrated and failure to achieve it only resulted in disappointment and Izanami could already see the affects that failure had on Azula. Whenever Azula failed at something – which was really rare – Izanami could see it in her eyes that she wasn’t happy about it. Sometimes Izanami thought that Azula had an unhealthy obsession with perfection, but she figured that’s what happens when you have a father who expected nothing but your best. Izanami also guessed that’s why she also didn’t resent her father about their strained relationship.

 “Izana, there you are!” a voice suddenly exclaimed, bringing Izanami back to where she was.

Izanami turned to see Azula heading towards her, and Izanami could see that her friend looked slightly frustrated yet satisfied as well. Izanami knew that was never a good mix with Azula, since you never knew when she was gonna snap when she was like that. Izanami was just glad that Mai and Ty Lee weren’t around.

 “Here I am,” Izanami said as Azula made her way towards her friend, “What’s up?”

“I have something to show you and the others. Where are Mai and Ty Lee?” Azula asked.

“They’re still in our room,” Izanami replied. “Is this about the project that you’ve been working on?”

Azula nodded, “Yes, it’s finally complete and now you get to see it with your own eyes. It’s going to come in very handy during our mission.”

“What is it, some sort of tank engine?” Izanami asked sarcastically.

Azula grinned, “Close. You’ll see for yourself. Just wait there.”

Izanami was left partially stunned at that before Azula headed towards their room. That feeling was soon replaced with curiosity as Izanami wondered what Azula could possibly have install for them now. Whatever it was, Azula made it seem pretty epic and for Azula to consider it _epic,_ it had to be something good.

~*•°•*~

“So, what is it that you’re so excited to show us?” Ty Lee asked as Azula lead them towards their unknown destination. They’d been walking for about half an hour now, so it’s safe to say that they were a fair bit away from the Hu Xin province.

“I’m not excited, I’m just finally ready to show you all what I’ve been working on,” Azula replied.

“It better be something useful,” Mai muttered.

“Trust me, it will be,” Azula said.

They continued walking for another few minutes before they finally came to a stop. When they did, Izanami could see that they were surrounded by all sorts of machinery that she’d never seen before. For a moment, Izanami was confused since she didn’t see how this could be helpful to them on their mission.

“Feast your eyes on one of the greatest engineering marvels to come from the Fire Nation,” Azula declared as she gestured to a large object in the centre of all the chaos.

Izanami’s eyes widened as she caught the sight of the large object. Sure enough, sitting in the middle of all the randomness was a large, metal _tank_ that seemed to stretch out for miles. Izanami was stunned, since she’d never seen anything like it. The Fire Nation never ceased to amaze Izanami with their ingenuity. They didn’t call themselves the most technologically advanced nation for nothing.

 “What is that?” Ty Lee asked.

“That, is a tank train. It’s a mix of a land train and an armoured tank. It’s designed to travel at large speeds over most terrain without the use of tracks and is capable of hauling many people and large loads of cargo across great distances,” Azula explained.

“Whoa,” Ty Lee said in awe.

“Not bad,” Mai complimented it nonchalantly.

“It’s huge, but how is it useful?” Izanami asked.

“This, is going to be our ticket to the Avatar. Once it’s done, of course. It’s in it’s final stages of completion, but it’s good enough for me to show you,” Azula replied.

“How did it even get here?” Ty Lee asked.

“I had all of the major parts transported from the Fire Nation and even the Earth Kingdom before they were delivered here. They’ve been working on it for weeks,” Azula explained.

“It’s definitely unlike any mode of transportation that I’ve seen,” Izanami admitted.

“Exactly. With this tank at our disposal, we’ll be able to track down the Avatar on his flying beast in no time. Then, once we’ve got them taken care of we’ll deal with Uncle Fatso and little Zuzu,” Azula declared.

Instead of questioning Azula’s choice of words, Izanami simply stared at the tank in awe. It was hard to believe that this type of machinery was even possible, but Izanami guessed that times are changing and anything’s really possible. Izanami was now once again reminded of why they were doing this and what was at stake. For the Avatar’s sake, his bison better be able to fly fast under pressure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so not really much happened there but I wasn’t really sure what to write for this chapter, so I just pulled random crap out of my mouth and typed it out. Once again, the action picks up in the next chapter which I’m not really sure when it will be posted, so be patient.


	10. Hot Pursuit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s chapter ten, we’re in double digits now. I’m not really sure how long the story’s gonna be since I’m still debating on how I’m gonna end it.

Soon after Azula unveiled the tank drill to the others, it wasn’t long before it reached its completion and was ready for them to use it. Even though the tank seemed to be a remarkable creation, Izanami had her doubts about its usefulness. For starters, it was pretty big and pretty noticeable, so Izanami wouldn’t be surprised if the Avatar managed to spot it from afar. But Azula was certain that it would be what they needed to wear him down before they tracked him down, and Izanami wasn’t one to question Azula’s judgement.

Once they had gathered their supplies, the tank took off in whatever direction was decided. Izanami found it funny how Lo and Li were left with the task of driving the tank, since Izanami didn’t really think that they were qualified for that sort of job. There wasn’t really that much space in the tank, so it was really cramped, and their sleeping quarters were close together. You’d think that Azula would go for something more luxurious, but Izanami figured that practicality was more important than luxury.

They’d been travelling for about five days before they came across something rather peculiar. There had been small bundles of some sort of white substance left on the ground for miles before they finally came out from the tank to investigate. From where they were, there didn’t seem to be anything majorly suspicious about it, but Azula being Azula was suspicious as ever. They’d all been spending some time scoping out the area for anything that would be useful for them when Azula called them back to their meeting place.

“Finding anything interesting?” Izanami asked asked.

“Yes. I know where this substance is coming from,” Azula replied.

“Where?” Ty Lee asked as she inspected her own bundle.

“This is fur from the Avatar’s flying bison,” Azula stated.

“How can you tell?” Izanami asked.

“Well, for starters it feels like fur and it looks like fur. Plus, that bison is quite large, so it is expected that it would leave a substantial trail like this,” Azula replied.

“Why would it be trailing fur?” Mai questioned uninterestedly.

“Because it’s spring, the time for animals like the bison to shed their fur. It’s something that just comes natural to them,” Azula answered.

“But how do we know which direction we’re supposed to go in?” Ty Lee inquired.

Azula glanced back and forth for a moment, “Considering the trail gradually increases that way and there is hardly any of it in that direction, I’d say we continue heading south.”

“What if they spot us?” Izanami asked.

“Then we keep tracking them. Eventually we’ll wear them down to the point where they can no longer travel and that’s when we strike,” Azula replied.

“Let’s do it!” Ty Lee exclaimed before she cartwheeled back into the tank.

The moment the door shut behind them, Izanami could hear the engine starting up again before she felt the tank moving across the ground. Izanami still had her doubts about Azula’s plan, but Azula’s plans mostly worked out anyways so that was enough confidence for her. Izanami would’ve hated to be in the Avatar’s position right now, since he was about to get a rude awakening.

~*•°•*~

 

A few more hours passed, and night was beginning to fall. At first, Izanami’s doubts were beginning to increase but that only stopped once they caught vision of smoke coming from the distance. Since the fur continued in that direction, Azula was certain that that was the Avatar’s location. The whole time, Izanami was preparing herself for what they were about to face. Izanami had failed herself back in New Ozai, so she was hoping for a chance of redemption against the Avatar’s group once again. That is if Azula didn’t save all the glory for herself, of course.

 “We’re getting closer,” Azula stated as she looked through her binoculars.

“Are the mongoose lizards ready?” Izanami asked.

Azula nodded, “They’re packed and ready to go. We just need to get into position soon.”

“Finally, something to do,” Mai muttered.

“This is gonna be fun!” Ty Lee exclaimed.

Izanami chuckled to herself at Ty Lee’s exclamation, since it sounded like something that Azula would say but for different reasons. As the tank continued moving, they made their way towards the part where the mongoose lizards were stationed. Mongoose lizards acted as a mode of transportation that were tamed and ridden so they could easily dodge attacks without throwing their riders off. They would certainly come in handy during their assault on the Avatar’s gang.

As they prepared themselves for action, the tank suddenly came to an unexpected halt that certainly did not sit well with Azula as she headed off to find what the holdup was.

“What is the meaning of this? Now was not the time to stop!” Azula demanded to the conductor.

“My apologies, Princess. It appears as though our targets are no longer in position,” the conductor replied.

“What do you mean?” Azula asked in a deathly-soft voice.

“A figure was spotted in the distance not too far away, and the smoke from that same area has dwindled,” the conductor replied.

“Then what was the point of stopping? Why not just continue heading in that same direction?” Azula asked.

The conductor gulped, “We thought it would be best to halt our advance to ready the tank for its next travel.”

Azula growled, “Fine. Just do it as quick as you can.”

“Yes, Princess,” the conductor said as he bowed to Azula before exiting the room.

“All that build up for nothing,” Mai muttered.

“No, not for nothing. It just proves that we are catching up to our prey. They know we’re after them, and it’s only a matter of time before we wear them down,” Azula stated.

“But how would they know that? We were at a pretty decent distance from them, so they wouldn’t have seen us,” Izanami inquired.

“I’m not sure on that reason myself, but they obviously must’ve suspected something to have suddenly taken off like that,” Azula said.

“That gives us more time for warming-up exercises!” Ty Lee declared.

“We don’t need warming-up exercises,” Izanami said.

“Of course, we do!” Ty Lee exclaimed before taking off out of the room, with Mai slowly following her from behind which left Azula and Izanami behind.

“That girl confuses me sometimes,” Izanami muttered as she shook her head.

“You want to know what confuses me, Izana?” Azula asked.

“What?” Izanami questioned.

“People who are so incompetent at doing their jobs, yet they still do them anyways. I’ve been surrounded by fools all my life,” Azula answered.

“I’m no fool, right?” Izanami joked.

“Yes, you aren’t. It’s a shame that’s not the same for everyone else,” Azula muttered as she stalked off.

Since there wasn’t any point in her staying there, Izanami headed off after Azula to see what else there could be done. Izanami could understand Azula’s frustration at the situation, since she had to live up to her father’s expectations and get the job done but the people who were supposed to help her weren’t doing that. Izanami figured that she was at fault in that area once again but this time, she wouldn’t be.

~*•°•*~

Within the span of an hour, they had managed to track down the Avatar once again to his suspected location. Just like before, they were getting ready to lead their assault on them when Azula suddenly let out a cry of frustration.

 “Azula, what’s the matter?” Izanami asked, concerned.

“That beast is in the air once again,” Azula muttered.

Izanami sighed, “Oh.”

“We seem to be tracking them down, but they’re not stopping. The Avatar just seems to be going off wherever he feels safe. It’s like a game of chase,” Azula complained.

“Wouldn’t you do the same thing in his position?” Izanami asked.

Azula scoffed, “Of course, not. I’d face my pursuer head on. I wouldn’t let them get the best of me. So why can’t he just do the same?”

“Not everyone has the same thoughts,” Izanami reasoned.

“We’ll just have to keep tracking them down until we find them. I’m not stopping until I get the Avatar. If anyone’s going to get him, it’s going to be me. Not Zuzu. Me,” Azula declared.

“I’m sure you’ll do just that,” Izanami said confidently.

Which is exactly what they did. They continued tracking down the Avatar well into the night and Izanami was beginning to get tired. Mai and Ty Lee had already gone to get some rest, but Izanami had opted to stay with Azula. At one point Izanami thought they’d ran out of luck since the trail seemed to dwindle before it increased once again. As long as the bison continued to leave that trail behind, they’d be able to catch up to the Avatar once again and hopefully this time, have him in their clutches.

 “They seem to be just flying now. Perhaps they’re trying to outrun us?” Izanami suggested as Azula peered through her binoculars.

“If they are, it’s unfortunately not going to work for them,” Azula replied.

“This is beginning to get ridiculous,” Izanami muttered.

“Patience, Izana. I’m confident this next opportunity will be our chance to strike. I’m willing to bet that the Avatar has failed to notice that his pet is leaving a trail behind, otherwise he would’ve done something to stop it,” Azula said.

“Can you see the bison?” Izanami asked tiredly.

“Very faintly. It seems to be making a descent up ahead. Perhaps this is the opportunity we’ve been waiting for,” Azula replied.

“I’ll go get Mai and Ty Lee then,” Izanami stated.

In no time at all, Izanami had Mai and Ty Lee ready for action. This time Izanami was hoping that they could finally come face to face with the Avatar, so they could at least have some progress. If they took off flying once again, Izanami was going to be livid since there’s only so much patience Izanami had.

“Is everything ready?” Izanami asked Azula as they positioned ourselves on their mongoose lizards.

Azula nodded, “It doesn’t appear as though the Avatar has moved, so we’ll be stopping shortly. Girls, ready yourself for battle.”

“It’s about time,” Mai muttered.

“We’ve got this, guys!” Ty Lee exclaimed.

Izanami could feel the nerves inside of her building up again. Perhaps it was those combined with her tiredness. Either way, Izanami felt energised and ready to take on their opponents. Suddenly, the tank came to a stop and the door they were waiting behind sprung open. The mongoose lizards immediately crawled out with the girls on top of them, ready to finally get in on some action.

The moment Izanami caught sight of the Avatar’s gang, she immediately noticed a fourth person with them dressed in green. As far as Izanami could remember, it was just the Avatar and the Water Tribe siblings who were at New Ozai. She figured that they must’ve picked up a new recruit along the way. Izanami glanced at Azula who wore a determined look on her face as they began racing towards the group while they discussed with one another.

Suddenly, four columns of earth sprung up on us which almost halted their advance. However, the mongoose lizards merely leaped over the pillars and continued their assault towards them. After a few moments, the Avatar and his gang started fleeing the area before another rock was earthbended in front of them. Azula merely moved her arms in a circular motion as she generated her lightning before firing the bolt at the wall, blowing a huge hole in it. The lizards clambered through the hole and Izanami sent two fire blasts towards the girl in green. Just as she did so, Mai swung her arm which released a flurry of stilettos and the girl launched herself on a pillar with Mai’s darts striking it as she landed on the bison before it flew away.

They just barely managed to escape them as Azula sent a blast of blue fire their way, her eyes narrowing with determination as she watched her enemies flee. They’d come closer than they had before, but they’d fallen short although Azula didn’t seem too phased by that.

 “We have no time to waste, let’s go back to the tank,” Azula ordered.

They did as they were told and quickly lead the lizards back to the tank so that they could get a move on. Izanami knew that Azula wouldn’t stop until they caught up with the Avatar, even if it meant chasing them all day and night.

 “They’ve certainly been busy,” Izanami muttered as she hopped off her lizard.

“What makes you say that?” Azula asked.

“They’ve managed to get an earthbender on their side which makes sense, since the next element for the Avatar to master would be earth. Once he’s got that done he’ll just need a firebending teacher,” Izanami replied.

Azula scoffed, “He might’ve mastered two of the elements already and be beginning his earthbending, but I highly doubt he’ll get them all done before Sozin’s Comet. For him to be a fully-realised Avatar he needs to master all of the elements and I doubt it’s going to be easy for him to find a firebending teacher. Nobody in the right mind would risk making themselves an outcast for that.”

“What do we do now?” Izanami asked.

“Now, we just sit back, let Lo and Li drive the tank and wait until another opportunity presents itself, which I know it will,” Azula replied.

Now that they’d managed to get hold of the Avatar, Izanami could tell that Azula was more determined than ever to mow him down and get him right where she wanted him. They were going to be in for one heck of a night.

~*•°•*~

After tireless hours of searching, they hadn’t been able to find the Avatar once again. The bison’s trail was still there, they just couldn’t find the bison itself. Izanami figured that the Avatar was probably playing it smart and flying as much as he possibly could to get away from them. She found it hard to believe that the Avatar was yet to realise that his bison was leading a trail right to him, but it was better for them that he didn’t realise it.

Sometimes after the tank had started off again, Izanami had retreated to her sleeping quarters, so she’d be more energised for when they did eventually face the Avatar again. Izanami always struggled sleeping on moving structures, so she’d only gotten roughly about four to five hours of sleep. That was still probably better than how the Avatar was faring.

Hours into daylight, the tank had stopped yet again. This time Izanami was curious since she hadn’t been told of any stop to make, but when she joined Azula and the others outside, there was no sign of the Avatar around them, so she had no idea what was going on. It took Izanami a moment to figure that they were stopped near the Nan Shan River, and she was curious for the reason of their stop.

“What’s happening?” Izanami asked.

“We found something!” Ty Lee exclaimed.

“What?” Izanami questioned.

“Wads of wet fur,” Mai answered dryly, “How delightful.”

“Hmmm…” Ty Lee trailed off thoughtfully as she scratched her head, “they’re not wads, they’re more like bundles, or bunches? It’s got an “uh” sound.”

“Clumps?” Mai suggested, unamused.

Ty Lee clasped her hands together as she said brightly, “Clumps! They’re clumps!”

Izanami’s gaze turned to Azula as Ty Lee hugged Mai. She didn’t need to see Mai’s expression to know that she didn’t like that action. As Izanami glanced around, she noticed that there was a trail of white fur heading off in one direction, while some of the trees on the other side appeared to be damaged. The only thing that could’ve made that happen was the bison, but that didn’t explain why the fur was going the other way. There were also some faint footprints left on the ground heading in yet another direction.

 “The trail goes this way,” Mai said to Azula as she pointed in the direction of the trail.

Azula, who had been bending over, examining the fur, rose and looked in the direction of the trail. She then averted her gaze upwards towards the broken treetops, which had only caught Izanami’s attention moments ago.

“The Avatar’s trying to give us the slip,” Azula stated as she pointed to the broken treetops, “Mai and Ty Lee, you two head in that direction and keep your eye out for the bison.”

“What do I do?” Izanami asked.

“You, head in that direction and follow those footsteps,” Azula ordered as she looked down at the fur trail, “I’ll follow this trail.”

Within moments, they were all kitted up on the Mongoose Lizards once again except this time, they all had something different to chase. Izanami glanced at Azula for a moment and nodded, which she returned as well before Izanami snapped her wrists to get the lizard moving, which it did at a rapid speed. Izanami wasn’t too sure what she was getting herself into, but by the end of this she hoped that they’d get what they’d been searching for.

~*•°•*~

Riding on a mongoose lizard for hours was extremely uncomfortable. Izanami’s back was beginning to hurt at this point and she could feel the cramps beginning to spread throughout her body. At one point, the footsteps Izanami was following had faded into nothing, so she was pretty much going on no leads. Izanami didn’t even know what she was searching for.

Eventually, Izanami hard hushed voices talking in the distance and deciding to play it discrete, she dismounted herself from her lizard before leaving it some place safe and heading in the direction of the voices. As Izanami got closer, one of the voices soundly faintly familiar and she caught the sight of a pillar sticking out from the ground. It took Izanami a moment to get into her battle position before she recognised where one of the voices was coming from.

“Iroh?” Izanami questioned.

After a moment of silence, the figure stepped out from behind the rocks and sure enough, it was Iroh. What surprised Izanami was that with him wasn’t Zuko, but the girl who had been with the Avatar. She figured that the girl must’ve split up at some point and now she was trailing her.

“Who are you?” the earthbender asked threateningly.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Izanami pressed as her gaze switched between the two of them.

“Now, now, why don’t we all sit down and enjoy some calming tea?” Iroh suggested.

The earthbender shrugged, “Isn’t that what we were going to do?”

“Yes, but if Miss Izanami would like to join us she is welcome to,” Iroh said.

Izanami raised her eyebrows at Iroh, wondering why he would offer her something like that since he knew her association with Azula. She figured that Iroh must’ve felt comfortable with her after she spared him and Zuko on Azula’s ship. Sighing in defeat, Izanami walked towards the pair until they all sat down on the floor together while Iroh prepared the tea.

“So, you know my name. What’s yours?” Izanami asked the earthbender.

“My name is Toph Bei Fong and I’m the greatest earthbender in the world,” she boasted.

“Wait a minute…” Izanami trailed off as she recognised the last name. “Bei Fong as in Bei Fong, one of the richest families in the Earth Kingdom?”

“Yep,” the girl, Toph replied.

“Wow. I didn’t know they had a daughter,” Izanami said.

Toph sighed, “That’s because my parents hid me from the world since they thought I was their helpless little blind daughter.”

“You’re blind?” Izanami asked, slightly stunned since she didn’t appear to have that look.

“You couldn’t tell?” she questioned.

Izanami shrugged, “Well, not really. You hide it pretty well.”

“I’m not even trying,” Toph muttered.

A moment of silence filled the air as Iroh finished preparing their tea. Izanami found the situation ironic, considering they’re all enemies in some shape or form yet they were sitting down together, about to share a cup of tea.

“Here is your tea,” Iroh said as he handed them their cups while he glanced at Toph, “You seem a little too young to be travelling alone.”

Toph took the tea from his hand, “You seem a little too old.”

Izanami chuckled at her comment while Iroh laughed, “Perhaps I am.”

“I know what you’re both thinking… I look like I can’t handle being by myself,” Toph said casually.

“I wasn’t thinking that,” Iroh replied.

“Neither was I. You hardly seem like the fragile type,” Izanami agreed.

“You wouldn’t even let me pour my own cup of tea!” Toph exclaimed at Iroh.

“I poured your tea because I wanted to and for no other reason,” Iroh said.

“People see me and think I’m weak. They want to take care of me, but I can take care of myself, by myself,” Toph explained.

“You sound like my nephew, always thinking you need to do things on your own, without anyone’s support. There is nothing wrong with letting the people who love you help you,” Iroh observed before he added, “Not that I love you, I just met you.”

Izanami chuckled as Toph laughed at Iroh’s comment. Even though it wasn’t directed at her, Izanami couldn’t help but relate to that in a different way. Her mind drifted to Azula, who was always so independent and hardly ever accepted peoples help. When Izanami offered it to her, she only pushed her away which made it difficult to get Azula to open up to her sometimes.

“So where is your nephew?” Toph asked.

“I’ve been tracking him actually,” Iroh replied.

“Is he lost?” Toph asked.

It was then when Izanami realised that Toph and Iroh had no idea who the other was, since Toph didn’t seem to know that Iroh’s nephew was Zuko. Instead of saying anything, Izanami just sat there and listened to their conversation as she sipped her tea.

“Yes, a little bit,” Iroh answered sadly as he looked away, “His life has recently changed and he’s going through very difficult times. He’s trying to figure out who he is, and he went away.”

“So, no you’re following him,” Toph stated.

“I know he doesn’t want me around him right now, but if he needs me, I’ll be there,” Iroh explained.

“Your nephew is very lucky, even if he doesn’t know it,” Toph said.

Izanami nodded in agreement, since she always wondered how Iroh and Zuko had a relationship like they did. But it was probably due to the fact that Ozai had neglected Zuko and the fact that he had no one after his mother was banished.

Iroh turned to me as he spoke, “On the other hand, there is my niece who hasn’t been lead on the best path. But with the right guidance and the right support, I have faith that she will find her own peace and redemption, but only if she wants it.”

“I don’t see that happening just yet, Iroh,” Izanami admitted.

“Until then, just let her be and follow her own path. When the time is right, she’ll make the change she has in her,” Iroh said.

Izanami sighed, “I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you,” Toph said as she got up to leave.

“My pleasure. Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life’s true delights,” Iroh replied.

“No, thank you for what you said. It helped me,” Toph clarified.

“I’m glad,” Iroh said.

Toph rose to leave but turned around briefly as she faced Iroh and Izanami, “Oh, and about your nephew, maybe you should tell him that you need him, too. As for your niece, she probably just needs time to figure things out on her own.”

With that, Toph continued heading away form them, which just left Izanami and Iroh to ourselves. For a moment Izanami debated on what she should do now. Izanami had two choices: she could either take Iroh as her prisoner like Azula would want her to, or just let him go since he had no major importance without Zuko.

“Is this where you capture me?” Iroh asked.

Izanami sighed as she rose to her feet, “No. I’ll let you go.”

“Alright then,” Iroh said.

Silence fell over them once again before Izanami turned back to face him, “Iroh?”

“Hm?” he replied as he turned to face her.

“Do you really think Azula can be saved?” Izanami asked hesitantly, since even she didn’t know the answer to that.

“That is up to her, Izanami. If Azula chooses to see the error in her ways, she will. You’ll just have to be there for her when she does,” Iroh replied.

Izanami nodded, “I will be, just like I’ve always been.”

“My niece is lucky to have someone like you in her life,” Iroh stated.

Izanami gave him a smile, “Just like Zuko is lucky to have you. Speaking of which, you’ll probably run into Azula at some stage again. Just be prepared.”

“Thanks for the tip,” Iroh said.

As Izanami walked away, she couldn’t help but feel a pang in her chest since she had let her heart get in the way of her head once again. If Azula could see her now, she’d probably incinerate Izanami on the spot. Which was why Izanami didn’t plan on telling Azula about her conversation with Iroh. What she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: it’s actually written on the tank’s wikia page that it was Lo and Li who drove it, which I thought was pretty funny.


	11. Lines Drawn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I haven’t really had that much time to write for this story since I’ve started university, but I managed to pull this one out today. It’s worth mentioning that I’ve decided this story will be going into the comics, since I have my own plans for future developments.

Once Izanami had bid Iroh farewell, she decided to headed back to their chosen rendezvous point. It had been hard for her to simply let Iroh go, since Izanami knew how important capturing him was to Azula. It was also difficult for Izanami, since that only added to the list of secrets she was keeping from Azula and she felt uncomfortable hiding them from her friend. Izanami just reminded herself that if Azula was to find out what she had done, it wouldn’t be good for either of them.

Eventually, Izanami made her way back to the rendezvous point where the tank train was waiting for her. Along the way, she caught sight of Mai and Ty Lee heading towards it as well. When she saw that it was just the two of them and that they were soaking wet, Izanami figured that their attempt had also been a failure. Now they just had to wait for Azula to return for the full report.

“Judging by your appearances, I’m guessing you guys didn’t have much luck either,” Izanami addressed them.

Mai groaned as squeezed water out of her hair, “Let’s not even talk about that.”

“What happened, did the waterbender splash you with a wave?” Izanami asked somewhat sarcastically.

“No, that giant creature thing pushed us away,” Ty Lee replied.

“Giant creature? You mean the bison?” Izanami clarified.

Ty Lee nodded, “He just blew us back with one swoop of his tail. It was enough to send us flying into the nearby lake.”

“Oh. Well, I had hardly any luck. The footprints that Azula sent me after eventually faded and after there was nothing suspicious in sight, I decided to return here,” Izanami lied.

“We had them right where we wanted them too,” Mai said.

“Huh?” Izanami queried.

“They were _so_ tired, you could spot the bags underneath their eyes from any direction. It didn’t take us long to beat them, but then the bison flapped his tale and that was it for us,” Ty Lee explained glumly.

“At least we got _some_ action from it,” Mai drawled.

Ty Lee shrugged, “Yeah. And that guy was really cute.”

“What guy?” Izanami asked.

“She thinks that Water Tribe boy is cute. I can’t understand why, though,” Mai replied.

“Are you trying to find your own forbidden romance, Ty Lee?” Izanami asked jokingly, remembering one of their recent conversations.

Ty Lee giggled, “Maybe, maybe not. It’s some food for thought.”

“Any word from Azula?” Izanami questioned.

“No,” Mai replied as she pointed further ahead. “But it looks like we’re about to get some.”

Izanami turned to see what looked like a mongoose lizard heading towards them. It didn’t take Izanami long to figure out that Azula had also returned empty handed, which she knew wouldn’t settle well with her.

“How did it go?” Izanami asked Azula once she headed towards them.

“Well, I managed to get the Avatar, Uncle Fatso and Zuzu all together in the same place,” Azula replied.

“But you didn’t capture them,” Izanami stated.

Azula sighed, “Yes, the plan was a fail. But the next plan will not. Now, we must remain here for some time since my father said he would send a message for me soon.”

“Can we get changed now?” Mai asked dully.

Azula grimaced at her and Ty Lee’s appearance, “Yes, you may.”

Mai and Ty Lee were quick to head off, so they could find some more presentable attire, which just left Azula and Izanami to themselves once again. Izanami could tell that Azula was frustrated at herself for failing once again, since the look was obvious on her face.

“What happened?” Izanami questioned.

“The trail of fur lead me to an abandoned town where the Avatar was waiting for me. You should’ve seen him, Izana. He looked dreadful, but he wasn’t going to back down without a fight. Just when we were about to do battle, Zuzu chose that moment to show up,” Azula began.

“I’m guessing that’s when the fun started,” Izanami stated.

Azula nodded, “Yes. For a moment, we all just stood there before I made the first move at Zuzu. The Avatar tried to make a break for it, but I haltered his advance. There wasn’t that much he could do since he was practically exhausted. Once I managed to wear Zuzu down, it was just me and the Avatar. It was easy to get him cornered, and I had him trapped with my firebending and was just about to deliver the final blow.”

“That’s obviously not what happened,” Izanami concluded.

“You would be correct. That blasted Water Tribe peasant chose that moment to swoop in and save the day, freeing him from my clutches and giving him the opportunity to escape. That was when Uncle Fatso joined the party as well, along with that earthbender of theirs. She was able to do some trickery with the ground that caused me to fall over, which was not one of my finer moments,” Azula continued.

Izanami stifled back a laugh, “I would imagine so.”

“After that, I was pretty much cornered by the Avatars followers as well as Uncle Fatso and Zuzu. I was able to trick them into thinking that I was surrendering, before I made my final move and my grand escape,” Azula finished.

“What was your final move?” Izanami questioned.

“While they were distracted, I sent a fire blast at Iroh which was enough to get them all to unite as they sent their combined elements towards me. Even that useless peasant fired his boomerang at me. I was able to use that as my cover to escape,” Azula explained.

Izanami stared at Azula, slightly horrified at the turn her story took. While Izanami knew that Azula was one for using unorthodox methods to get what she wanted, it still pained her to listen to the way she spoke about them so carelessly. And the fact that it was directed towards her own uncle was even worse.

“Was Iroh okay?” Izanami asked.

Azula shrugged, “I don’t know, I didn’t stay long enough to find out. I hope he isn’t.”

“How could you say that?” Izanami demanded.

“What do you mean?” Azula asked.

“He’s your uncle, Azula! I know that you don’t exactly have a close relationship with any of your family besides your father for whatever reason, but how can you be so cold and heartless towards them?” Izanami snapped.

Azula glared at Izanami, “Why should I care about them when they clearly don’t care about me?”

“They’re your family, Azula and that’s what family does!” Izanami exclaimed.

Azula rolled her eyes, “Maybe yours does that, but mine doesn’t. You of all people should know that my family is hardly like the picture perfect one you had growing up.”

“And you should know that my family isn’t as perfect as you think it is! I’ve had just as much of a difficult childhood as you,” Izanami argued, her patience with Azula beginning to grow thin.

“Oh, right. I’m sure you’ve had the constant pressure to be perfect like I have. When in reality, you’re just the ugly turtle duck of your family. Who can blame them for thinking that when your brother is better than you’ll ever be. And at least my father actually loves me, unlike yours who wouldn’t even care if you weren’t around!” Azula yelled, not even caring about the impact of her words.

The moment those words left Azula’s mouth, Izanami had never felt so angry towards her supposed best friends. Azula knew all about the delicate relationship that Izanami had with her family, just like Izanami knew about Azula’s troubled family upbringing, yet Izanami never brought that into the argument. Azula had crossed the line with that comment, and in that moment Izanami just wanted to as far aware from Azula as possible.

“I’m going to my room,” Izanami calmly stated, her trembling mouth betraying the coldness of her words.

Izanami didn’t even bother to look back at Azula as she stormed off, wanting nothing more than to be by herself. She knew fully well that Azula could sometimes be rough around the edges, but Izanami never expected her to go that far. In a way, Izanami had that comment coming, since she had pushed Azula’s buttons just as much as Azula pushed hers, but that still didn’t change the way she felt towards her friend.

 _Maybe I just need some time to myself._ Izanami thought sadly, not wanting to dwell on the argument she’d just had.

~*•°•*~

Late into the night, Izanami was lying down on her bed as she stared up at the ceiling. Since her argument with Azula, Izanami had barely spoken to anyone. Only Ty Lee had come to visit her sometime ago, and she said that Azula felt bad about what she’d said to her. While Izanami wanted to believe that Azula felt bad, she wouldn’t believe it until it came from Azula’s own mouth. Despite Ty Lee’s best attempts to get Izanami to go out and do something, Izanami refused the offer and chose to stay locked up in her room.

Things were going to be awkward between Azula and Izanami after this. They would have to get over this speedbump somehow or their friendship could be potentially ruined forever. This was the first time that Izanami was genuinely worried about the status of her friendship with Azula. Sure, they had had disagreements in the past, but she’d never felt the way she felt now towards Azula before. Izanami just wanted this to sort itself out, but she knew it would take some time to forgive Azula for what she had said, even if she did apologise.

Suddenly, there was a silent knock on her door and Izanami debated for a moment if she should let them in or not, since she didn’t know who was standing behind that door. Part of her wanted it to be Azula, so that they could sort this out, but Izanami wasn’t sure if she was ready to confront Azula.

“I know that you’re in there, Izana. Please don’t ignore me,” came Azula’s voice from the door.

Izanami sighed as she rolled over and got up, since she couldn’t exactly refuse the Princess of the Fire Nation entry to her room. When Izanami opened the door, she was slightly stunned to see the expression on Azula’s face. It wasn’t a look that Izanami saw often. It was a look of remorse mixed with perhaps… guilt? That surprised Izanami, since Azula rarely showed her true feelings on her face.

“Can I come in?” Azula asked, somewhat timidly.

Izanami shrugged as she gestured for Azula to step inside her room, which the Princess did somewhat hesitantly. From where she was standing, Izanami could tell that Azula was nervous, which was again rare for Azula. A tense moment of silence filled the room before Azula eventually broke it.

“Listen, I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I shouldn’t have said it,” Azula apologised.

“You mean saying that I was the ugly turtle duck of my family and that they didn’t care about me?” Izanami clarified.

Azula sighed regretfully, “Yes… that. I’ve always known that your relationship with your family isn’t as ideal as you’d want to be, even if it’s nothing compared to mine. It was still wrong of me to say what I did.”

“It’s okay. We were both in the wrong. Just like you’ve always known, I’ve always known that our views towards certain things aren’t the same and I shouldn’t have pushed it,” Izanami apologised.

“But what I said was worse and I never should’ve said it. The moment I said it, I knew I had hurt you and if I could take it back, I would,” Azula apologised.

Izanami gave her a small smile, “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Az. It was in the heat of the moment and we both said things that we shouldn’t have. I’ll admit, I was hurt when you said it, but I can tell that you really feel bad, so I’ll forgive you.”

Azula let out a sigh of relief, “That’s good. I can’t have you being angry at me.”

“Can we promise each other something?” Izanami asked.

“What?” Azula questioned hesitantly.

“That we’ll never say anything to intentionally hurt the other, especially if we know it’ll upset them,” Izanami explained.

“I can promise that,” Azula agreed.

Izanami smiled, “Good.”

“So…” Azula trailed off nervously. “Are we still, you know… _friends_?”

Izanami grinned, “The best.”

“That’s a relief. Now I can rest easily knowing that you don’t hate my guts,” Azula said.

“I could never hate you, Az. Sure, I was upset with you, but I could never hate you,” Izanami admitted.

“Just like I would never hate you, no matter how much I tried. You’re too likeable to hate,” Azula added.

“You would never survive without me anyways. It would just be you, Mai and Ty Lee,” Izanami teased.

Azula nodded, “It would. I’m lucky to have you around to put up with their nonsense. I don’t know how I’d be able to handle that on my own.”

Izanami laughed at Azula’s blunt honesty. Even though Izanami knew Azula valued Mai and Ty Lee’s help and friendship at times, they could be too much for her to handle. Izanami was just glad that she had her friendship with Azula back on track.

Once again, there was a knock on Izanami’s door and the two girls exchanged glances before Azula went up to open it to reveal one of the servants standing there.

“What do you want?” Azula demanded.

The servant gulped, “I apologise for my interruption. I have a letter addressed to Miss Izanami.”

Izanami perked up at that, slightly confused. She hardly ever got letters from anyone, so Izanami wondered what this could possibly be about and how it could involve her.

“Very well,” Azula said before taking the note from the servant’s hand and slamming the door shut in his face. Azula then turned to face Izanami who was wearing an amused look on her face before it turned to one of curiosity as her eyes landed on the message.

“I wonder what it could be about,” Izanami thought out loud.

“Why don’t you find out, then?” Azula suggested as she handed Izanami the letter.

Carefully, Izanami took the concealed message from Azula’s hands and her eyes widened when she caught the attachment of a black ribbon. Black ribbon messages were carried with the utmost of importance, so Izanami knew that this letter had to be something major. Izanami hesitated before she carefully unrolled the message and slowly read it to herself, with her worst nightmare becoming a reality.

Azula quickly noticed the change in Izanami’s demeanour. The way her lip suddenly trembled and the tears that were threatening to pour from her eyes was enough of an indicator that her friend had received some rather distressing news.

“What is it?” Azula asked dreadfully.

“It’s my brother,” Izanami replied, with the tears beginning to pour down her face.

“Is he alright?” Azula inquired, fearing the response her friend was about to give her.

Izanami shook her head sadly, “No. He’s dead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Izanami. This chapter certainly hasn’t been a good one for her. First, she and Azula have their first major fight and now her brother is dead. I knew for a while that Izanami’s brother was going to die, but I wasn’t sure when to bring it into the story.


	12. Tough TImes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I originally wrote this chapter, I went back and edit the other chapters that were written in first person before I changed it back to third person. Updates for this story also vary, since there is no set update schedule cause I just write it as I go.

When Izanami finished reading the news that her brother had died, the first thing she did was cry. Izanami didn’t normally cry, since similar to Azula she preferred keeping her emotions to herself. But this was her brother, and she loved him, so she cried for him. Azula really wasn’t that much help, but Izanami knew her friend wasn’t the comforting type. Izanami just appreciated that Azula was there for her, which she needed now more than ever.

Since her mother had written the letter to her, her mother had asked Izanami if she would return home, so they could get through this as a family. Although Izanami was reluctant to do so, she agreed to her mothers wish after Azula reassured her that it would be fine. Within a day, Izanami was getting ready to leave her friends and return to the Fire Nation. Part of her felt guilty, since she knew she’d be leaving them to get the job done but they understood why Izanami needed to leave.

Currently, Izanami was getting ready to bid her friends farewell before she’d return back to the Fire Nation to be with her family. A sombre mood filled the air as Izanami prepared herself to say goodbye to her friends. The situation was hardly ideal and was something that Izanami never thought she’d have to go through, but the universe had a sick way of proving her wrong.

“Will you be okay?” Azula asked Izanami as she was about to leave.

Izanami sighed, “I’ll cope. Just stay focused on what you have to do and don’t worry about me.”

“You’ll still write, though? I still want to stay in touch with you,” Azula said.

“I’ll definitely write to you, Zula,” Izanami promised.

“Good. And if you need any help at all, just go to my father and I’ll make sure that he does what he can,” Azula reassured her.

Izanami raised an eyebrow, “Would Ozai really do something like that for me, though?”

Azula shrugged, “He would if I asked him to. Just take care of yourself, Izana.”

“I will, don’t you worry about me,” Izanami reassured her.

“Good,” Azula said.

Suddenly, Izanami felt Azula wrap her arms around her as she pulled her in a tight embrace. This was strange for Izanami since Azula rarely hugged _anyone_ , even her. So, it was safe to say Izanami was surprised by the action.

“Um, what are you doing?” Izanami asked awkwardly.

“Hugging you,” Azula replied.

“Why?” Izanami questioned.

“Because you need a hug, so I’m giving you one,” Azula answered.

Eventually, Azula pulled away and gave Izanami a small smile, which Izanami returned. After their moment, the two were joined by Mai and Ty Lee who were ready to say goodbye to their friend. Ty Lee was quick to embrace Izanami in a tight hug, which the other girl returned.

“I’m so sorry, Izana,” Ty Lee apologised.

“It’s okay, Ty Lee. Shit happens,” Izanami said.

“But this isn’t fair. Your brother didn’t deserve to die,” Ty Lee cried.

“I know that more than anyone. I should be more upset than you,” Izanami reasoned.

Ty Lee sniffled, “But I just feel so bad for you. I know that you really loved him.”

Izanami smiled, “I did. And that’s what matters to me. Now I just need to go home and be there for my family. I promise that I’ll write to you guys.”

“Okay,” Ty Lee murmured.

Izanami turned to Mai, who sifted uncomfortably in her stance, “Goodbye, Mai.”

“Goodbye, Izana. For what it’s worth, you have my condolences,” Mai said.

“Thanks. Good luck, guys. I hope you get what you’re looking for,” Izanami said.

Azula smirked, “Oh, we will. Just wait, we’ll be home before you even know it.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it,” Izanami nodded.

“Group hug!” Ty Lee exclaimed before pulling them all into a bone-crushing hug. Unlike most times when she would pull away, Izanami just let her friends embrace her since she knew she needed their support.

Finally, Ty Lee released them, and Izanami said her final goodbyes before bidding her friends farewell. As she headed off in a different direction, Izanami couldn’t help but look over her shoulder and feel a twinge emptiness inside as she left them behind. While she knew her friends would support her, it was still hard to leave them behind, but Izanami knew where she was needed the most, and that wasn’t there.

~*•°•*~

It didn’t take Izanami long to return to her home in the Fire Nation, thanks to the special privileges that Azula had given her to make her trip as quick as possible. This wasn’t how Izanami thought she would be returning home. She thought she would be returning home together with Azula and her friends, with their mission completed. Not to help her grieving family over the loss of her brother.

Even though Izanami knew that it was real and that this was actually happening, it was still hard to come to terms with. Kazu, her big brother, her hero was dead. Her family would never be the same after this. There would always be a hole missing, that could only be filled by her brother. Izanami hoped that her parents were doing okay, especially her mother. She wasn’t sure how her father would handle this news, but she knew he wouldn’t be happy about it. Izanami just feared what it would do to her mother psychologically.

In no time at all, Izanami had returned to Caldera City and she braced herself for what she would have to deal with when she arrived home. It hadn’t been that long since Izanami had left, but now that she was back it felt like a lifetime. But now she was home, and under the worst circumstances possible.

Izanami managed to find her old home easily enough and was immediately hit with a wave of nostalgia. This was the place where she spent the past few years growing up. Now it would never be the same again. After what felt like an eternity, Izanami arrived at her front door and after a slight moment of hesitation, she knocked on it and waited for it to open.

Izanami could hear the shuffling of footsteps before the door opened to reveal her mother, Hikari standing there. Hikari let out a small gasp upon seeing her daughter standing there before immediately wrapping her arms around her in a tight embrace. Although it wasn’t what she planned on doing, Izanami ended up crying into her mother’s chest as they stood in the doorway of their home.

“I didn’t think you would be home that quickly. I only sent the message just over a week ago,” Hikari admitted.

“Azula was able to get me home quicker than anticipated. I’ve barely had anytime to rest, though. But she sends her condolences. As do Mai and Ty Lee,” Izanami explained.

Hikari’s eyes widened, “Mai and Ty Lee? I haven’t heard those names in ages.”

“Well, Azula wanted them to help us so they’ve been travelling with us throughout the Earth Kingdom,” Izanami said.

“Oh. Well, was Princess Azula okay with you leaving her?” Hikari asked.

Izanami shook her head, “Azula was the one who encouraged me to leave. She knew I was needed more here and gave me plenty of support before I left.”

“Well, I’m glad that you have such a supportive friend. I’ll let you get reacquainted with your old room,” Hikari said.

Izanami sighed as she watched her mother disappear into the house. Although her mothers front would beg to differ, Izanami could see that she was hurting on the inside. For now, Izanami would just be the support system her mother would need while trying to stay strong for herself as well.

~*•°•*~

Later that night, Izanami and Hikari sat at there old family dinner table as they ate their dinner in silence. The whole time, Hikari avoided her daughters gaze while Izanami stayed focused on getting through this meal without having a meltdown. As the silence thickened, there was one question on Izanami’s mind that had been there since she arrived home and it finally came off her chest.

“Where’s dad?” Izanami asked.

Hikari sighed, “He’s off dealing with work, but he’ll be back sometime next week.”

Izanami scoffed, “So he can’t even be home to support his grieving family? Some guy.”

“Izanami, that is your father. He is doing his job to provide for us which will be even more harder now that we do not have the support of your brother,” Hikari scolded her.

“He’s probably not even that cut up over it. The only reason why he would be upset is because now he’s lost his ‘pride and joy’ and is stuck with me as his only daughter,” Izanami snapped.

“Don’t say that, Izanami,” Hikari muttered.

“But it’s true. Dad hardly ever gave us the time of day and he’s doing that now even after the death of his son, who was _my_ brother that he clearly doesn’t seem to care enough about,” Izanami said.

“You and I both know that your father always had difficulty expressing how he felt. I’m sure he’s struggling just as much as we are,” Hikari reasoned.

Izanami rolled her eyes, “Sure, which is why he can’t be home to support his family. Any loving father or husband would be home in an instant after the death of a family member.”

“Young lady, do not talk about your father that way. I’ve already lost your brother, the last thing I need is you giving me an attitude,” Hikari scolded her.

Izanami slammed her plate on the table as she stood up, “Fine then, _mother_. I guess I’ll just sit in my room then.”

Hikari frowned as she watched her daughter storm out from the kitchen, struggling to understand where that outburst had come from. She knew that her daughter and son had always had a close bond, but this behaviour was unlike her. It had been hard watching her only son leave them, but even harder for Izanami.

_It was nine years ago, the day when Kazu was set to leave the Fire Nation so he could take part in the war. He had only just turned sixteen over a month ago, but since he considered an adult in the eyes of the Fire Nation that meant he was eligible to fight in the war, which was something that Kazu had always dreamed of. While her husband, Masaru had been nothing but supportive of her son’s decision, Hikari was clearly hesitant about letting him go. But after much persuasion from her husband and son, Hikari agreed to let him go._

_“I’m going to miss you so much, Kazu,” Hikari cried as she hugged her son goodbye._

_“Me too, mother. Thank you for supporting me on this,” Kazu said._

_“I would support you no matter what, Kazu. Even if I don’t agree with it. Just promise me that you’ll be brave, and that you won’t back down without a fight?” Hikari said._

_Kazu smiled at his mother, “I will, mom.”_

_“I’m so proud of you and I love you more than you’ll ever know. Just be safe,” Hikari said._

_“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine,” Kazu promised before turning to face his father. “Dad.”_

_Masaru smiled fondly at his son, “Bye, son. Even though I might not say it much, I am proud of you and I wish you good luck.”_

_“Thank you for everything that you have done for me. You and mother have helped me get to where I am,” Kazu said._

_“You’re our son, Kazu. That’s what we’re supposed to do,” Masaru pointed out._

_Kazu smiled at his parents before glancing down at his younger sister who was avoiding his gaze, “Izzy, are you going to say anything to me at all?”_

_Finally, Izanami looked up at her brother with her tearful eyes before wrapping her arms around his legs. Since Kazu had told his little sister that he was going to leave, Izanami had been ignoring him non-stop, but it seemed like the resistance had finally broken._

_“I don’t want you to go, big brother,” Izanami cried._

_“I hate seeing you so upset, Izzy. But this is my dream and I finally get to live it. You should be happy for me,” Kazu reasoned with his sister._

_“Can’t you have another dream?” Izanami asked._

_Kazu ruffled her hair, “This is what I want to do, Izzy. You know what this means?”_

_“What?” Izanami sniffled._

_“Whenever people ask about your family you can tell them that your brother is off being hero, since that’s what I’ll be doing. I’ll be protecting our nation, while protecting you guys at the same time,” Kazu pointed out._

_“You’re already my hero,” Izanami cried._

_“I know. But this is something I have to do, Izzy. Please understand that,” Kazu pleaded with her._

_Izanami sighed, “Okay. I’ll let you go. When will you be back?”_

_Kazu avoided his sisters glance, “I… don’t know. But I promise I’ll write to you whenever I can, okay?”_

_“Okay,” Izanami agreed._

_“That’s my little sis,” Kazu said as he wrapped his arms around her._

_“I hope you have fun beating the bad guys,” Izanami said._

_Kazu laughed, “I will.”_

_“Don’t forget me,” Izanami murmured._

_“I would never dream of it,” Kazu promised._

_“Alright, Izanami. You need to let your brother go now,” Masaru said._

_“Bye, Kazu,” Izanami said._

_“Bye, Izzy. Bye, mom. Bye, dad,” Kazu hugged his family._

_After one final hug, Kazu picked up his stuff and headed towards the boat that was waiting to take him away. He gave his family one last wave as he walked up the ramp, which was met with the desperate cries from his sister. There had been a sinking feeling in Hikari’s chest that that would be the last time she saw her son, but if she had known that would be the case, she would’ve told him so much more._

_~*•°•*~_

Following her exit from the kitchen, Izanami went straight into her room before slamming her door shut, making it so that her mother would hear it. As soon as she entered her room, Izanami flopped onto her bed and buried her face into her pillow that muffled her cries. Once she had let it out, Izanami felt bad for the way she had snapped at her mother, since it wasn’t her mother who she was mad it, only her father.

Realistically, Izanami shouldn’t be surprised that her father wouldn’t have dropped everything to be with him. She had known for a long time that his family wasn’t her father’s priority. It just made Izanami wonder how he would even react if it was her in this situation. He probably wouldn’t have even bothered to respond to her mother’s letter.

“Why’d you have to go, Kazu?” Izanami cried.

After spending some time crying to herself over the loss of her brother, Izanami went searching through some of her old stuff before finding the last letter that Kazu had written to her on her twelfth birthday. That was the last time Izanami had heard from her brother, that was three years ago. Following that, Izanami had written to her brother a few times before giving up after he never wrote back to her.

_Dear little sis,_

_Sorry I haven’t written to you in a few months, things have just been really busy on the front. I’m glad that things have been going well with you, mom and dad at home. I was surprised when you told me that you’d made friends with Princess Azula, I was kind of surprised but I’m glad you found someone to be your friend. I just hope this girl doesn’t replace me as your best friend._

_I don’t have much time to write, but I just wanted you to know that I’m always thinking of you guys (you the most). Also, don’t think that I wouldn’t forget your birthday. I know I haven’t sent you a gift for your birthday in years, so I spent some time making the perfect gift for you to make up for it. I hope you like it and to hear from you soon._

_Love always,_

_Kazu, your big brother_

The gift that Kazu had given her was a copy of her favourite book along with the most beautiful necklace that Izanami had ever seen. She had worn it ever since then, only now it left a bitter taste in her mouth. Izanami held onto the necklace around her neck tightly as the tears slowly began to fall down her face. The reality of the loss of her brother was finally dawning on her, and it was hurting more than ever. Izanami wasn’t sure how she was going to recover from this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that’s that chapter out of the way. I may go back and edit it, since I’m not entirely happy with it. Just thought I’d clear up that Azula and Izanami won’t see each other until after the end of season two, but there will be little moments in between.
> 
> Since I never did any proper translations; Izanami is the Japanese myth name of the wife Izanagi that means ‘female who invites’, Hikari is a Japanese name meaning light, Kazu is a Japanese name meaning first and Masaru is a Japanese name meaning victory.


	13. Brother to my Sister

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re in the teens now woot woot. Same as always, italics are thoughts/flashbacks. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get on with the chapter that takes place during the Library.

Days after Izanami had returned home to the Fire Nation, her father Colonel Masaru returned as well with the body of her brother Kazu that had been recovered. It was made clear that Kazu had been a well-respected young man in the eyes of the Fire Nation given the amount of condolences that Izanami and her family received from people she’d never met. That only made it harder for Izanami to deal with the hard truth that her beloved brother was dead, since it was obvious he had such a bright future ahead of him that was unjustly snuffed out before he even got the chance to experience it.

Things between Izanami and her family were tense now that they were all back together. Her father spent most of his time making the appropriate arrangements for her brother’s funeral while her mother was trying her best to keep the family together. In that time, Izanami had minimal contact with Azula since the only way she could communicate with her friend now was through letters, which was obviously not the same as talking face-to-face. Izanami had only received two letters from Azula since she returned home and based on the small amount of content in them, she figured that her friend was busy with her current mission.

Part of Izanami just wanted Azula to capture the Avatar along with Iroh and Zuko, so she would return home, since she knew Azula would never give up until the bitter end. Then there was the other part of Izanami that didn’t want Azula to succeed, just because if the Avatar, Iroh and Zuko were out of the picture, there would be nobody left to make a stand against the Fire Nation. It really gave Izanami some time to put things into perspective for herself, and it made her get her priorities back on track. Izanami just wished that it didn’t take Kazu’s death to make her realise what was truly important to her.

Currently, Izanami was on her way home from training. She found that it was a good coping mechanism and that it distracted her from the heavy feeling in her heart whenever she thought about Kazu. Her beloved brother’s funeral would be taking place by the end of the week, so Izanami knew she had to be ready for that but in all honesty, she wasn’t sure how she’d handle watching her brothers dead body being lowered into the ground.

When Izanami entered her house, only her mother was home as her father was left to deal with the funeral arrangements. Despite the fact that he had been home for almost a week now, Izanami hadn’t spoken much to her father and spent most of her time with her mother. That was always how things had been with their family. Only now things would never be the same with Kazu no longer with them.

“Hey, mom,” Izanami greeted her mother as she entered the kitchen.

Hikari gave her daughter a small smile, “Hello, sweetheart. How was training?”

“Alright, I suppose,” Izanami replied as she sat down.

“Your father will be home late tonight since he’s finalising your brothers burial arrangements,” Hikari said.

Izanami sighed, “Okay.”

“Also, your dress for the funeral arrived today. I put it on your bed, so you could try it on later to make sure it fits,” Hikari said.

“Hey, mom. Do you think I could play the song that Kazu always sang with me at his funeral?” Izanami asked.

“I’ll have to ask your father about that, since it is a formal event and music like that isn’t typically played at this sort of event. But I’m sure he’ll make an exception for you,” Hikari replied.

Izanami nodded, “Well, I’ll go try on the dress now.”

“Let me see it on you when you’re done!” Hikari called out to her daughter as she disappeared from the kitchen.

Sure enough, when Izanami walked into her room there was an elegant, white dress waiting for her on her bed. As she examined the beautifully designed dress in her hands, Izanami took notice of every detail and couldn’t help but acknowledge its elegance. It was a nice, long white dress with gold trimmings on the edges. On any other occasion, Izanami would be more than happy to wear something as beautiful as the dress. It was just a shame that it came under these circumstances.

Once Izanami had put the dress on, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror that stood in her bedroom. Her landed on the letters of her and her brothers names that they painted on the mirror several years ago. That on its own almost brought Izanami to tears but she didn’t want to risk ruining her dress that had obviously cost a lot. A small knock on the door snapped Izanami out of her grief-induced daze.

“Izanami, do you have the dress on yet?” her mother asked.

Izanami sighed, “Yes, mom.”

The door opened and Hikari stepped inside to Izanami’s room to see her daughter beautifully dressed. Hikari smiled slightly at the sight, but the smile quickly went away when she saw the look on her daughter’s face.

“You look beautiful, darling,” Hikari complimented her daughter.

“Thanks, mom. I love the dress. I just wish I didn’t have to wear it for this,” Izanami said.

Hikari wrapped her arms around her daughter, “Now, sweetheart. I know that you and your brother were always close growing up, but he wouldn’t want you to be like this over him.”

“He also wouldn’t want to be dead either,” Izanami snapped.

“Don’t be like that, Izanami. Remember that your father and I are hurting just as much as you are,” Hikari consoled her.

Izanami rolled her eyes, “Right. Because you lost your little pride and joy and now you’re stuck with me as your only child.”

“Izanami, you know that your father and I always viewed you and your brother equally. There was never any favouritism,” Hikari said.

“Then why did I have to work ten times harder than Kazu to get even half of the praise that he did?” Izanami asked.

Hikari sighed, “Those were just the expectations that your father and I had bestowed on us when we were your age. Girls have always had to work harder than boys.”

“So that makes it okay to pass those ideologies onto your kids?” Izanami questioned.

“I’m not going to deal with you when you’re like this, Izanami. When you drop your attitude, you can come talk to me,” Hikari said.

“Whatever,” Izanami muttered as her mother left her room.

When her mother shut the door, Izanami immediately felt a wave of guilt overcome her after what she said to her mother. Even though it’s what she genuinely felt, that was not the time and place to have that discussion. After that, Izanami changed out of her dress and put it safely away before changing back into her training gear and hopping onto her bed. In that moment, there was nothing more that Izanami wanted than for her brother to be with her now, but she knew that wasn’t possible. All she could do was hold onto the memories that they shared together.

_Five-year-old Izanami sighed longingly as she watched her mother prepare dinner for that night. It was currently just the two of them since her father was off at work and Kazu was yet to return from school. There was nothing that Izanami wanted more than to play with her brother, but unfortunately for her she was stuck with her mother until he came home._

_“Mommy, when’s Kazu gonna be here?” Izanami asked impatiently._

_“Your brother should be home any minute, darling,” Hikari replied._

_Izanami groaned, “That’s forever! I want Kazu now!”_

_“Why don’t you play with your toys until your brother comes home so you can get right into it?” Hikari suggested._

_Izanami crossed her arms, “Then he’ll be behind! I can’t start without him!”_

_“Agni, help me,” Hikari muttered._

_“What, mommy?” Izanami asked._

_“Nothing, sweetie,” Hikari replied quickly._

_Suddenly, Izanami caught the sight of the familiar figure of her brother in the distance as he headed towards their house. Screaming as she did so, Izanami ran out the door before her mother could even blink and darted towards her brother. The moment she reached him, Izanami jumped into his arms and Kazu happily picked his younger sister up and spun her around before gently putting her on the ground._

_“Hey, Izzy. Did you miss me?” Kazu asked._

_Izanami nodded, “Yes! Mommy’s not as fun as you are.”_

_Kazu laughed, “That’s good to know.”_

_“Now that you’re home, can we play?” Izanami asked eagerly._

_“I wish I could, Izzy but I have homework to do,” Kazu replied._

_Izanami pouted, “But we always play together. You don’t have time for fun anymore.”_

_“That’s because I have big boy stuff to do. You’ll understand when you’re older, Izzy,” Kazu said._

_“But I’m a girl!” Izanami exclaimed._

_Kazu laughed, “That you are. A pretty one at that.”_

_Izanami smiled, “You’re pretty too, Kazu. Can we be pretty and play together?”_

_“I suppose I could wait until later to do my homework,” Kazu drawled._

_“Yay! Lets play!” Izanami exclaimed as she grabbed her brothers hand and dragged him towards their house._

Even though it wasn’t a big memory, that was definitely one of Izanami’s favourite moments with her brother. One thing Izanami always loved about Kazu was how he always made time to play with her, even when he was busy. Her parents hardly ever played with her growing up. Sure, they watched over her, but they never played with her like Kazu did. There was never a dull moment with her brother, since they always found something fun to do together.

As Izanami stared out her window, a large bird suddenly came into view. It didn’t take Izanami long to realise that the bird was heading straight towards her and that it was in fact a messenger hawk. When the bird landed on her window sill, Izanami quickly took notice of the large packaging that covered it and curiously opened it up to find out what was inside. Izanami didn’t even need to look at it to know that it was a letter from Azula, but there was also a necklace along with it. Curiously, Izanami examined the necklace that was made up of white coloured beads and one single black bead. The letter that came along with it was short and simple like it always was with Azula, but enough for Izanami to get the message.

_Even with the distance, you’ll always be my friend Izanami. Consider this a token of our friendship._

Izanami smiled once she finished reading the letter and gently placed the bracelet on her left wrist. The gesture wasn’t something that Azula normally did, but Izanami had grown to be surprised by Azula on a day to day basis. With the bracelet on her wrist, Izanami pulled out her flute that she kept safely hidden away in her drawer before she started playing the song that she and her brother would always sing together. Even though he wasn’t there singing it with her, Izanami could still his voice singing it in her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In all honesty, I didn’t really know what to write for this chapter, but I wanted to throw in some Izanami/Kazu moments as well as an Azula shoutout. Izanami’s dress is white because that’s a colour typically worn during times of mourning, which can be seen during Azulon’s funeral in Zuko Alone. The distance bracelet that Azula sent to Izanami is pretty simple in context, and all you have to do is just google it if you want to know what I mean.


	14. Ashes to Ashes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In all honesty I thought that I'd already posted this chapter here since I was going to post the next one when I realised that I hadn't so here it is. This chapter may or may not be a tear-jerker, depending on how you see it. It takes place before the Serpents Pass.

The day that Izanami had been dreading had arrived. It was the day that Kazu, her big brother would be buried and never to be seen again. Izanami had spent the past few weeks preparing herself for this moment, since there was nothing she could do to avoid it. For a brief time, Izanami had been in a stage of denial about her brothers impending funeral but the look on her parent’s faces was enough to bring Izanami to reality. Her brother was dead, and after today she was never going to see him again.

Since her father returned last week, Izanami had rarely spoken to him. She only greeted her father when he returned home and after that, she was only in the same room with him only if she had to be. It was hard for Izanami to be around her father at this stage, since he rarely ever showed any sympathy towards her and now was no exception. By now Izanami had grown accustomed to her father’s attitude, but it still hurt to know that her own father couldn’t care less about how she felt.

On the day of her brother’s funeral, Izanami wore her white dress that was specially designed for this event. In all honesty, Izanami had never worn anything this extravagant before. Sure, she had worn fancy dresses when Azula invited her to special occasions but nothing ever like this. The whole time Izanami was getting ready for Kazu’s funeral, she was preparing herself for the speech that she would have to deliver in his honour. Her father had opted to give the speech himself, but Izanami argued that she should have the right to do that and surprisingly, her father had agreed to it.

When Izanami was ready to go, she followed her mother and father out of their house, so they could make their way to the temple where the funeral would be taking place. The funeral would be taking place at night, far in the mountains away from the capital city. The event was strictly family only except for the commanding officers who had known Kazu and a select few of his fellow soldiers. The whole time Izanami was struggling to contain herself, since she refused to cry and show weakness in front of her parents. They had raised her to be strong, and crying was not strong.

Eventually, the family of three arrived at their destination where most of the guests had already arrived. The moment they stepped into the area, their family was immediately greeted by the other guests as they offered their condolences which was meat by death ears for Izanami. Not wanting to be rude, Izanami simply thanked them half-heartedly for their support. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate it Izanami just felt that their sympathy was unnecessary. Her brother was now dead, and no amount of condolences would ever bring him back.

As her parents chatted away with the other officials, Izanami caught the sight of her brother’s casket that lay open far ahead. Wanting to have one last look at her brother before he was buried forever, Izanami snuck away from her parents and carefully made her way towards his casket. When she was a few feet away, Izanami took a deep breath to prepare herself for what she was about to see. Once she was ready, Izanami peered over Kazu’s casket and her heart just about broke when she laid eyes on him.

If she was being honest, Izanami was surprised by the condition her brother was in. His skin wasn’t as battered and bruised as she thought it would be, since they had done a decent job of making him presentable for his funeral. But Izanami could still see the wounds that Kazu had sustained from his last battle. It hurt Izanami to know that there was nothing that her brother had wanted more than to serve his country, only to die doing so. But in some way, it was comforting to know that her brother had at least died doing what he loved.

“I miss you, Kazu. I hope you’re in a better place,” Izanami sniffled.

While Izanami mourned her brother, she suddenly felt something yank her backwards and away from his casket. Izanami turned around to see her father glaring at her as he towered over her.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Masaru demanded.

“I wanted to see Kazu,” Izanami replied.

“If your mother and I cannot see your brother, what makes you think you have the right to, you insolent brat?” Masaru berated his daughter.

“He was my brother and I loved him. More than you ever could,” Izanami argued.

“Don’t test me, young lady. I could easily take away your speech and give it myself. You’ve already been given enough,” Masaru hissed.

“Sorry, father,” Izanami apologised half-heartedly.

“Now go back to your mother,” Masaru ordered.

Izanami sighed as she took one last look back at her brothers casket before re-joining her mother and the others. Soon enough, the ceremony was ready to begin, and Izanami sat at the front of the guests along with her mother and father and the officials who had known Kazu throughout his life.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered her today to mourn the loss of Lieutenant Kazu, a young warrior who had the potential for a long a prosperous future that was taken away from him too soon. Kazu had served under the Fire Nation army for the past eight years and never gave it nothing but his best. It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to our son, brother, cousin, nephew, friend, comrade and lieutenant. May his spirit be blessed as we lay him to rest. It is now my pleasure to invite his beloved sister, Izanami to deliver a speech on her family’s behalf,” the priest began.

Taking a deep breath as she did so, Izanami stood up from her seat and made her way towards the lectern to give her speech. Once she got there, Izanami opened her speech as she tried her best to avoid looking at the crowd, knowing that it would do her no good. When she was ready, Izanami began her speech on what she wished she could say to her brother that she would never get the chance to do so.

“Kazu and I had always shared a special bond. He was nine when I was born, and from then on, he looked out for me like nobody else ever did. There was never a dull moment when Kazu was with me. He knew how cheer me up when I was down and to entertain me when I was bored. Even before I could understand what he meant, I knew that Kazu wanted to serve our country. It was something that my brother had always spoken about so even when it came time for him to go, I still fought to keep him here. As much as it pains me to deal with the reality that my brother was taken away from us too soon, it is comforting to know that he died doing what he always wanted to do. Even though he might not be with us physically, I know that he is here with us spiritually and will continue to be so. Thank you Kazu for everything that you have done for me, our family and our nation. No matter how much time passes by, I will always love you and remember you for what you were and what you always will be.”

Choking back her sobs as she did so, Izanami took a few steps back from the lectern before returning to her parents so that the ceremony could continue. Once she got back to her seat, her father simply nodded at her while her mother wrapped her arm around her.

“That was beautiful, sweetheart. Kazu would’ve loved that,” Hikari whispered to her daughter.

The rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch and Izanami was able to maintain her strong front until they finally started to lower Kazu’s casket to the ground. As his casket got lower and lower, the more tears started to build up in Izanami’s eyes. It was official now. Her brother was going to be buried, and he was never coming back.

Finally, the dam broke and Izanami burst into tears as she failed to control herself. Just the sight of her brothers casket being lowered to the ground was enough to send her into hysterics. Izanami didn’t care if she was embarrassing herself or her family. All she cared about was her brother, who was now dead and who she’d never see again. For a few moments, Izanami tried to cry as quietly as possibly to keep the attention off herself but her efforts in that aspect were futile.

“Stop making a fool out of yourself, Izanami. Show some dignity for Agni’s sake,” Masaru hissed.

Izanami glared at him, “I don’t care about stupid dignity. I want Kazu back.”

“Well too bad, because he’s not coming back, and you’ll just have to accept that,” her father stated.

“I don’t have to if I don’t want to,” Izanami snapped.

“Do not speak to me like that, young lady. Remember I am your father,” Masaru scolded her.

“You never act like it,” Izanami muttered.

“What was that?” Masaru asked.

“Nothing,” Izanami murmured.

Masaru scoffed, “I’m sure it was.”

Eventually, the service was over, and it was time for Izanami and her family to return to their home. Leaving Kazu behind was hard, but Izanami reminded herself that she was already never going to see him again so there was no point in fussing over it now. When Izanami and her family returned to their home, Izanami was quick to bid her parents goodnight before heading off to her room, so she could be alone in peace. The last thing Izanami wanted now was for her parents to be around her when they were hardly sympathetic of how she was feeling.

Once Izanami had changed out of her dress and into her night gown, she crawled into her bed and let the rest of her pent-up tears come out. If she was being honest, Izanami was hardly a crier. She only ever cried if she was genuinely upset, just like she was now. There was nothing that Izanami wanted more than to have one last moment with her brother, but she knew that despite how badly she wanted it, she would never have that. And that was something that she’d just have to learn to deal with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys didn’t get too upset at that. Sorry for the lack of Azula in this chapter but have no fear, you’ll get to hear from her in the next one.


	15. Wishful Thinking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't expect that much to come from this chapter, since I was in a rush to get it done cause it had been ages since I last updated. This chapter takes place after the Drill.

In the days following Kazu’s funeral, Izanami contemplated on what she was going to do now. Not to her surprise, her father had already returned back to his work without a second thought of his grieving wife and daughter. As for her mother, Hikari often stayed with Izanami back at their house while dealing with the necessary proceedings after Kazu’s funeral. Part of Izanami wanted to go and find Azula again, since that at least gave her something else to think about other than Kazu’s death.

If she was being honest, Izanami thought it would get easier after the funeral, since then that would at least make the loss of her brother seem more real, because there was still part of her that thought Kazu would just magically show up and she’d go back to having her brother again, but she was slowly beginning to accept his death which made things even worse. With his death, that meant it was up to Izanami to carry on their family’s name which put more pressure on her to live up to her family’s expectations than before.

Part of Izanami was hesitant about leaving home, since she knew that her parents would rather her stay there to be the perfect little daughter she was expected to be. Izanami also knew that her parents didn’t really like how much time she spent with Azula, even though they never said it to her out loud. Her mother was mostly fine with it, but then there were times when Hikari would prefer it if Izanami didn’t dote over the Fire Nation Princess and focused more on her family duties.

Sure, she had let Izanami travel with Azula over the past few weeks, but it was partly because of the influence Azula had over them in general. When it came to her father, Masaru had no problem with her being friends with Princess Azula since it meant that he could get in Fire Lord Ozai’s good graces but then there were times when he’d get stiff and prefer it if his daughter didn’t waste all of her time with Azula.

Since Izanami had said goodbye to Azula, the two had kept in contact with each other just like Izanami said they would. The last letter that Izanami had received from her friend was before Kazu’s funeral, and it seemed like Azula had something of her own planned that Izanami was sure she would find out eventually. That was one of the intriguing things about being Azula’s friend, since the girl was always mysterious in some way, but Izanami always found out in the end. There was suddenly a knock on Izanami’s door, interrupting Izanami from her thoughts. Sighing as she did so, Izanami got up from her bed and opened her door to see her mother standing there with a scroll in her hands.

“This letter just arrived for you from Princess Azula,” Hikari announced as she handed Izanami the scroll.

Izanami’s face brightened, “Thank you, mother.”

“How are you feeling, darling? You haven’t quite been yourself since Kazu’s passing,” Hikari noted.

“I’m doing better. I think I’ll be okay eventually. It would be a lot easier if I had Azula around to keep me occupied,” Izanami admitted.

“Speaking of which, Izanami, I have to ask if you will be returning to the princess,” Hikari said.

“I’m not sure, mother. I want to go see Azula again, because I know that she will need me. But I know that you need me too,” Izanami replied.

“That I do, Izanami. As I’m sure you are aware, with your brother gone you are all that your father and I have to continue our legacy. You need to focus more on your duties to us than your duties to the princess which are only voluntarily,” Hikari explained.

Izanami raised her eyebrows, “You never had a problem with me spending time with Azula before.”

“Yes, but that was because there was never a reason to. Now you need to get your priorities right and remember that family comes first, not some princess who probably wouldn’t look twice at you if she didn’t even know who you were,” Hikari reasoned.

“That’s not true. Azula and I would have become friends no matter the circumstances. She values my friendship just as much as I do,” Izanami stated.

“I didn’t say that, Izanami, I just said that she wouldn’t even bother with you if she didn’t know who you were. Princess Azula could be friends with anyone she wanted to,” Hikari said.

“Yet she’s still friends with me, because she wants to be. Mother, if you’re just going berate me for my life choices than I’d rather it if you just left me be,” Izanami snapped as she took the scroll from her mother’s hands.

Giving Hikari one last glare, Izanami slammed her door in her mother’s face before she headed over to her desk to read the letter from Azula. Izanami didn’t want to be mad at her mother, but lately her mother had just been snippy lately and it was beginning to get on her nerves. Izanami’s initial frustration at her mother subsided when she recognised Azula’s handwriting, since Azula mostly had other people do her writing for her so for Azula to write her own letter meant a lot to Izanami. With a bit of apprehension mixed with excitement, Izanami began reading the letter from her best friend.

**_Izanami,_ **

**_Apologies for the delay in this letter. As I mentioned in the last one, I was going to be occupied in the next few coming days as I took on my next mission. But since that mission was a complete failure, I see no reason to give you my report on it. I’m not sure if word has spread to the Fire Nation yet, but I was tasked by my father to oversee the conquering of Ba Sing Se, which was to be done with a drill of scientific ingenuity and raw destructive power. It was even more impressive than the tank we used to track the Avatar down before you left. All we were going to do was use the drill to destroy the walls of Ba Sing Se before our troupes invaded their city and secured our victory._ **

**_Of course, that’s not what happened since the Avatar just had to show up and ruin everything like he always does. The drill was supposed to be indestructible, but that foolish War Minister Qin failed to see the potential for disaster. The Avatar had managed to take down the drill from the inside before delivering the final blow just as we were drilling through Ba Sing Se’s walls. If only he hadn’t showed up and ruined everything, then Ba Sing Se would’ve been conquered and we would’ve all but won the war._ **

**_Enough about me, how are you doing? You mentioned in your last letter that your brother’s funeral would be within a few days. I’m not sure if it would’ve happened by now, but if it has I hope that you and your family are doing alright. I know it must be hard for you, since you always spoke so fondly of your brother whenever he came into conversation. Remember, if you need anything just go to my father since I made him promise that he would do whatever he could for you and your family. Mai and Ty Lee have been extra difficult since you left, because Ty Lee misses you and Mai is just being her usual depressing self. I could certainly use your help putting up with them, but if you need to be at home, I understand._ **

**_On one final note, I have to ask you if you will be meeting up with me once again. If you can’t, I will understand completely since you might be needed more at home than with me. If you can, I will be stationed on the outskirts of the Serpents Pass, located within distance of Ba Sing Se. It shouldn’t be too hard to find a ride there, but if you come across any troubles just say that Princess Azula sent you._ **

**_I hope to see you soon,_ **

**_Azula._ **

Sighing, Izanami rolled Azula’s letter back up as she glanced out her window. It certainly seemed like Azula had been busy since she last saw her, which only made Izanami want to see her again even more. But Izanami knew that she was needed more at home than she was with Azula, but that still didn’t mean that she wanted to be with Azula, Mai and Ty Lee more. There was hardly anything worthwhile about staying at home, since the idea of meeting up with Azula again was definitely more intriguing.

In order for Izanami to even get to Azula, she’d need to have permission from her mother and based on the conversation that she just had with her mother, Izanami thought that the chances of that happening were slim. It frustrated Izanami that her mother didn’t appreciate the friendship that she had with Azula, since any other parent would be thrilled if their child was friends with royalty. But of course, Izanami’s family was old-fashioned and stood by the notion that family came first before anything, even your own personal commitments. It wasn’t that Izanami didn’t support that, she just hated how her family’s beliefs stopped her from doing what she wanted to do.

This wouldn’t be the first time that Izanami’s parents would have stopped her from doing what she wanted due to their own personal beliefs and preferences. There had been plenty of times before when Izanami had been invited to places with Azula or just wanted to do something else that her parents had refused because of what they wanted her to do. Izanami figured that now it would only get worse since Kazu was dead and it was just her left to carry on their family’s legacy.

If Izanami had things her way, she wouldn’t even be in this situation. Kazu would still be alive, doing what he wanted without this pressure looming over her. That way Izanami would be able to spend as much time as she wanted with Azula and do whatever she wanted without her parents using that as an excuse for her not to. Thinking about Kazu only made Izanami more upset, and she knew that no matter how much she wanted it to, there was nothing she could do to change what had happened to her brother.

“Why’d you have to leave me, Kazu. I miss you,” Izanami whispered sadly.

The pain of her brother’s loss was still so raw on Izanami, and she just wished that she could get over it so that she could focus on what she needed to do. Izanami had never experienced such a loss like this before. Sure, there were people in her life that had died like her grandparents but that was only when Izanami was a baby, so she barely had any time to get attached to them like she was to Kazu. But Izanami knew that her grief was nothing compared to the pain that Kazu must have felt when he took his final breath and even before that when he risked losing his arm in battle. That news had terrified Izanami when she first heard it, but luckily for Kazu, he hadn’t lost his arm. Only now Izanami wished that this had turned out like that instance was, where everything was fine with Kazu and he would still be alive and well, but she knew that couldn't happen.

Knowing what she knew now, Izanami wished more than anything that Kazu had never left them, because then he wouldn’t be dead, and he would still be here with them. This wasn’t what Izanami thought grief would be like. She just thought she would be upset for a while and then she’d eventually get over it. But Izanami didn’t think that she’d ever get over Kazu. There was now a void left in her heart that nobody could replace, because that void was meant for Kazu and Kazu only.

As Izanami sat there on her bed, she couldn’t help but think about all it was that she wanted to do, but she could never do because of where things were in her life right now. It had become apparent to Izanami that she would have no choice but to follow her parent’s regime since that would be expected of her in their eyes. But then there was Azula who would expect her to be there to support her as she completed her mission. Izanami also felt that seeing Azula again would do some good for her, since then she would be able to distract herself from the grief she was feeling.

Izanami knew that she had to decide what was more important to her, her friend or her parents. There was Azula, who could at times take advantage of her and wasn’t exactly your typical ‘bestie’ type but still had the ability to bring Izanami out of the slump she was in. Then there were her parents who were a bit too stiff and condescending for Izanami’s liking, but she knew that deep down they just wanted the best for her. And what was best for Izanami was to get over the grief that was eating her up on the inside.

In that moment, Izanami knew what she had to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that chapter was worth the wait. Let me know your thoughts in the comments so I know what you guys think. I'd also liked it if you checked me out on fanfiction, which I'm on under the same name as this one.


	16. Together Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in this update. Even though I said that I would try and update more frequently, life didn't seem to want to cooperate with me so I've been pretty busy in the past two weeks with assignments which has left me little time to write. But alas, here is a chapter update that I hope makes up for the wait.

Soon after Izanami received her letter from Azula, she made up her mind on what she was going to do next. Once she had taken care of everything that she needed to, Izanami gathered her necessities and left her parents house in search of Azula. Izanami had waited a few days before she made her move, since she didn’t want to give her parents any indication that she was leaving because she would be doing it without their knowledge. By doing so, there would be no room for argument and Izanami would be able to leave on her own terms. Of course, she had left a letter explaining her absence, but she gave no hint as to where she was going so they couldn’t track her down and bring her home.

If Izanami was being completely honest, part of her felt guilty for just abandoning her parents during their time of need but they weren’t taking her needs into consideration, so why would she consider theirs? Izanami would be lying if she said that she wasn’t relieved to be leaving home, since that place had been nothing but bad since she came back. Perhaps some time away would not only be good for her, but for her parents as well. Sure, there would be the initial anger at her departure but Izanami had to hold onto the thought that they’d come to understand her reasons for leaving.

From what Azula had told her in her letter, she would be based near the Serpents Pass which wasn’t too far away from Ba Sing Se as far as Izanami was aware. Azula had given Izanami the help that she needed to find her, which was somewhat nerve-wracking for Izanami as she had never travelled by herself before. Sure, she’d travelled with Azula in the past few months but that was nothing compared to travelling on her own. There would be no creature comforts for Izanami until she found Azula, so Izanami just wanted to get to her as soon as she could. So once Izanami had everything ready that she needed and had left her note behind for her parents, Izanami left the Fire Nation once again except this time, she was on her own.

It was actually kind of liberating for Izanami to travel by herself, since whenever she was with Azula people were constantly looking at her. Well, they weren’t really looking at _her_ , more like Azula, but it was still close enough to make Izanami wary. Once Izanami had boarded the boat to take her to the Earth Kingdom, there was no turning back for her now and she was in it for the long haul. The time on the boat gave Izanami plenty of time to reflect on how much her life had changed in just a few short months. Everything that Izanami had grown used to had been turned upside down in the blink of an eye, and she was still struggling to come to terms with everything that had recently happening.

The loss of her brother had been unexpected and devastating. Izanami never would’ve imagined that she would’ve lost Kazu as soon as she did. Deep down, Izanami knew that she had every possibility of losing her brother given the profession that he was in, but she never thought she would lose him this soon, even if it had been more than seven years since she last saw him. Now she would never see him again, all thanks to the cruelty of war. Only now did Izanami really stop to wonder if everything that had happened as a result of the war so far was truly justified. If it weren’t for the war, Kazu would still be alive and there would be no need for any of the pain and suffering that Izanami knew spread throughout the world. Izanami might not acknowledge it, but she wasn’t blind. She knew what went on beyond the boarders of the Fire Nation.

Travelling by herself gave Izanami somewhat of an uneasy feeling, since this since was the first time she had ever been truly alone. It wasn’t like travelling with Azula, Mai and Ty Lee there was always something to do and someone to talk to. When she was by herself, there wasn’t really that much to do and there was nobody else to talk to, apart from the other passengers on the boat. But they weren’t really the type of people that Izanami would want to hold a conversation with.

If Azula was here, they’d be able to practise their bending together while hanging out like they always did together. She would be the one to tell Izanami to get a grip on things, which was what Izanami felt like she needed to do now. If she was with Ty Lee, the energetic acrobat would be able to lighten the mood up just like she always did. That was what Izanami loved the most about Ty Lee, since she was always able to look at the bright side of things. That might not be an ideal quality in Azula’s books, but for Izanami it was an admirable trait to have.

That would be the cause of many arguments amongst the group, given the fact that Ty Lee’s bubbly and optimistic outlook clashed with Azula’s blunt and dominant personality. When Izanami looked at their contrasting personalities, she sometimes wondered how they were even still friends. But then again, she and Azula had their obvious differences yet they were still friends. Then there was Mai, who never really fit into their group since it just seemed like she was along for the ride most of the time, but Mai never really got involved with anything that they did anyways. The more that Izanami thought about her friends, the more she missed them and longed to be with them. She just couldn’t wait for the boat to hit the shores of the Earth Kingdom so she could find Azula and be reunited with her friends once again.

~*•°•*~

After a long week out at sea, Izanami finally touched down on Earth Kingdom territory and she had never been more relieved to get off a boat before in her life. The time that she spent on Azula’s ship did help her get somewhat used to being on the water, but it still wasn’t Izanami’s preferred way of travelling. Once Izanami had reached the shore, she realised that she had no way of getting herself to the Serpents Pass. She was practically left stranded, with no way to get around and Izanami quickly felt out of place given her surroundings.

There were dozens of Earth Kingdom civilians around her, and she didn’t miss the glares that were shot her way, since it was quite obvious that Izanami was from the Fire Nation and that people like her weren’t welcome here. As Izanami took in her surroundings, she started to feel more and more out of place. She might’ve been in the Earth Kingdom before with Azula, but this time she was completely on her own with no way of getting herself around. Once that realisation hit her, that was when the panic started to set in.

“What do I do now?” Izanami muttered as she wondered around the port, not really paying attention to where she was going.

“What we’re you’re going, _ash maker_ ,” an Earth Kingdom civilian hissed as he bumped past her.

“Sorry,” Izanami apologised.

The civilian scoffed, “Sorry, yeah right.”

Izanami didn’t’ even bother responding to their comment, since it was obvious that they would just react the same way they did then. Even though Izanami had barely been at the dock for a few moments, she started to feel more uncomfortable as the minutes ticked by. She was practically like a fish out of water, since this was all so foreign to Izanami. However, she failed to notice a figure approaching her from the distance until they were blocking her path.

“Um, excuse me…” Izanami trailed off, unsure of how to react.

“Miss Izanami?” the stranger addressed her.

“How do you know my name?” Izanami asked warily.

“My name is Masao. Princess Azula sent me to wait for you in case you decided to join her. Now that you are here, I can take you to her,” the stranger, Masao replied.

“Oh. Well, um… Let’s go then,” Izanami murmured nervously.

Even though it was just the two of them, Izanami felt a lot better now with Masao to guide her since most of the attention went his way instead of hers. It was nice to know that she wasn’t the only outsider there anymore. Soon enough, the pair reached a carriage that was waiting for them nearby. Once Izanami hoped inside, the carriage rode off and Izanami couldn’t help the excited feeling that was building up inside of her. In that moment Izanami realised that that was the first time since she found out about Kazu’s death that she had been remotely excited for anything, and it brought a smile to her face.

There was nothing that Izanami wanted more than to move past her brother’s death, since she knew that he wouldn’t want her to get all sad and depressed over him, but she couldn’t help her grief. Up until now Izanami had never really experienced grief before, and it was certainly worse than any other emotion that she had dealt with. Rather than be sad about her brother’s death, Izanami tried her hardest to focus on the good times since she knew that’s what Kazu would want her to do. One memory in particular dawned on Izanami as she thought back on all the good and the bad times that she and Kazu had experienced.

_At six-years-old, you’d think that Izanami wouldn’t have any worries in the world. Up until then, that was pretty much the case as all she had to worry about was focusing on her studies at school and behaving when she had to. Those worries were hardly on her mind as her family was on vacation at their favourite place, Ember Island. Her family had started going there every summer since Izanami was a baby, and she always looked forward to the good times that they spent there._

_Today she and her brother, Kazu had gone down to the beach together while her parents had gone off into the town. As much as she loved her parents, Izanami was glad to have some alone time with her brother, since her parents weren’t exactly the fun type. The brother and sister duo were currently playing around in the sand and building sand castles while trying to avoid the waves from the ocean that came after them._

_“Here comes another wave!” Kazu exclaimed._

_“No!” Izanami yelled as she and Kazu ran away from the ocean, narrowly missing out getting splashed by the water._

_“We made it!” Kazu cheered._

_“But the water wrecked our sand castles,” Izanami pouted._

_“We’ll build some more then,” Kazu suggested._

_“Can they have a hole?” Izanami asked._

_“A what?” Kazu questioned, not sure what his sister meant._

_“You know, the hole that goes around the castle so the water can get past without wrecking it,” Izanami clarified._

_“Oh, you mean a moat,” Kazu realised._

_“A moat?” Izanami repeated._

_“A moat is what you just described,” Kazu explained._

_“Oh. I didn’t know that’s what it was. Let’s make one now!” Izanami said._

_Not wanting to ruin his sister’s fun, Kazu let her run off to an area where she started building her own castle. Kazu sighed as he watched her, knowing that this would probably be one of their last moments like this and that he was still yet to tell her what was about to happen. Deciding to wait until later to tell her, Kazu walked over to Izanami and bent down to help her, only to be shooed away by his younger sister._

_“No! You make your own! Then we see who’s better!” Izanami explained._

_“Ah, so a sand castle building competition. You’re on, sis!” Kazu challenged her._

_The sibling duo then got straight into their little game as they tried to build the best sand castle they possibly could. Of course, Izanami had built her own moat around her castle, which stood tall and large whereas Kazu’s was more structured compared to his sisters. Eventually, they finished their construction process and examined each other’s finished products._

_“Not bad, little sis. Not bad at all,” Kazu complimented hers._

_“Yours isn’t as good as mine!” Izanami exclaimed._

_Kazu held up his hands in defeat, “Then I guess you take home the victory.”_

_“Yay! You wish yours was as good as mine!” Izanami gloated._

_Kazu laughed at his sister’s antics, “I’ve truly never seen a sand castle quite like yours.”_

_“Of course, you haven’t,” Izanami boasted. “Can we go play Ninja Warrior now?”_

_“Later. There’s something that I want to tell you, Izzy,” Kazu said seriously._

_“What?” Izanami queried._

_“I don’t know how else to tell you this, Izzy. But I’m leaving,” Kazu revealed._

_Izanami frowned, “Leaving? To where?”_

_“I’m going to the Earth Kingdom in a few months to fight for our country,” Kazu explained._

_“But why? You can’t go. You’re not old enough,” Izanami argued._

_“I will be by the time I leave,” Kazu said._

_“Can I go with you?” Izanami asked hopefully._

_“I’m sorry, but you can’t, Izzy. My place is with the other soldiers while yours is at home with mommy and daddy,” Kazu reasoned._

_“But I don’t want to stay with them. I want to go with you!” Izanami cried._

_“You can’t, Izzy. You have to stay here while I have to go to war,” Kazu stated._

_“Nobody said you have to. You can still stay here with us,” Izanami muttered._

_Kazu sighed at his younger sister. He knew that he would probably get this reaction from her when he told her he was leaving, but he didn’t think it would be as hard as it was now. Kazu had never seen his sister look so sad before, even when her parents would confiscate her toys was nothing compared to now. This was a type of sadness that he’d never seen on his sister’s face, and it hurt to know that he was responsible for it._

_“I’ve already arranged everything, Izzy. I’m leaving in three month’s’ time,” Kazu said._

_“You can’t go. Please don’t leave me, Kazu,” Izanami pleaded._

_“I’m sorry, but I have to go. You know that this is what I’ve always wanted to do, Izzy. Now I finally get to do it. Don’t you want me to do what I want to?” Kazu reasoned._

_“Not if you have to leave me. Please stay, Kazu. I don’t want you to go,” Izanami pleaded._

_“I have to go, Izzy. You can’t stop me,” Kazu insisted._

_“Why do you want to go so badly? Do you not want me as a sister anymore?” Izanami questioned._

_Kazu’s eyes widened, “No, Izzy! You know I love you. This is just something that I have to do.”_

_“You don’t love me enough. I’m going back to our house,” Izanami murmured before she turned around and left her brother standing there on his own._

_As Izanami stormed off from her brother, she couldn’t help the tears that slipped down her face. It was hard for her to accept the fact that her brother was leaving, since she didn’t want him to leave. She wanted him to stay home with their family where he belonged, not go off to fight in the war. Although her brother seemed to have made up his mind on his decision, Izanami figured that maybe if she ignored him until he left he’d realised how much he loved her and would change his mind about leaving. Her plan might’ve been stupid from an outsider’s perspective, but Izanami was willing to do anything if it meant getting her brother to stay home where he belonged._

Looking back now, Izanami regretted her actions after Kazu revealed his decision to leave, since deep down she knew that her brother was leaving no matter what. If Izanami could go back and change anything, she’d make the most of what time she had left with her brother, since it would be the last time she ever saw him. But Izanami knew by now that no matter how much you’d want to change something, there really was nothing that you could do to make that happen. Izanami just hoped that wherever Kazu was that he knew she loved him and missed him like she’d never missed anyone. The more Izanami thought about Kazu, the more she missed him and hoped that some time with Azula would do her good.

~*•°•*~

After almost a day of travelling, Izanami finally arrived at a Fire Nation base near some sort of river, which she assumed was the Serpents Pass. Izanami had heard about the Serpents Pass before, since it was rumoured to harbour a vicious creature that attacked any boats that came past it. She was just glad that it didn’t look like their base was close enough to the river, since she didn’t want to have to come across the sea monster in this lifetime. Soon enough, the carriage came to a stop and Masao opened the door for her to step out.

“We have arrived,” Masao proclaimed.

“I see that,” Izanami murmured.

“Is there anything else that you require?” Masao queried.

Izanami shook her head, “No, I just want to know where Azula is.”

“Of course. I will take you to the Princess now,” Masao said.

It didn’t take long for Masao to guide Izanami to a tent that was noticeably larger than the others surrounding them and there were guards standing by on the outside, so she assumed that it was where Azula was staying. Izanami suddenly grew nervous at the prospect of seeing Azula again, since they didn’t exactly separate on the best of terms after their fight even though they may have smoothed things over recently. Things had certainly changed since then, and Izanami was unsure of what that would mean for her friendship with the Fire Nation Princess.

Masao opened the curtains to the tent and guided Izanami inside. Sure enough, sitting at a table far back in the tent was none other than Azula who was busy scribbling away on a piece of paper. Azula didn’t seem to notice the sudden intrusion in her quarters, so Masao took it upon himself to alert her of their presence.

“Excuse me, Princess,” Masao addressed her.

“Can’t you see I’m busy?” Azula snapped.

“Oh, so you don’t want me here anymore. I’ll just go then,” Izanami said.

Azula’s head instantly shot up at Izanami’s voice, and Izanami couldn’t help but smile at the shocked look that appeared on Azula’s face. It was clear that her presence was a surprise, which was Izanami’s intention since she didn’t let Azula know that she would be returning.

“Izana. You’re here,” Azula stated as she got up from her chair and walked over to her friend.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Masao said before he left the two girls to catch up.

“I’m here,” Izanami nodded.

“I wasn’t aware that you were coming. I was actually just busy writing another letter to you,” Azula admitted.

Izanami smiled, “Well, I wanted to surprise you, so I just didn’t bother to write back.”

“Well, I’m surprised,” Azula said.

“So, how have you been?” Izanami asked, eager to catch up with her friend.

“Never mind me, how are you? Are you coping alright with everything?” Azula questioned.

Izanami sighed, “I’m doing as good as I can. I’ve been doing better recently.”

“I’m glad. And your parents?” Azula added.

“They’ve been putting a lot of pressure on me since Kazu’s funeral. It’s because I’m the last of their legacy so they expect me to live up to Kazu’s accomplishments,” Izanami explained.

“I can’t imagine that they’d be happy about your decision to come back to me, then,” Azula mused.

“Well, I didn’t exactly tell them I was leaving since I knew they wouldn’t support my decision. Plus, it was sort of a spur of the moment kind of decision,” Izanami admitted.

“I’m not sure if I should be proud or disappointed in you,” Azula pondered.

“You should be glad that I’m here with you,” Izanami said.

Azula laughed, “I am glad. It’s been frustrating having to put up with Mai and Ty Lee by myself. Now that you’re here it should make things a lot easier.”

“I’m sure they will be. Now, fill me in on what’s been happening since I left. I want to know everything,” Izanami insisted.

Just like that, the two girls became engrossed in their own conversation as they filled each other in on their respective lives. Even though it had only been a few weeks since they last saw each other, it felt like it had been a lifetime given everything that happened. As the two girls caught up, to them it felt like nothing else in the world mattered and for a moment they forgot about the responsibilities that plagued them. Although they knew that once their little reunion was over, it was time to get back to business and focus on their mission at hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope that chapter was worth the wait. It's worth mentioning that Azula and Izanami were originally not going to see each other until book three, but I didn't know what to put in between now and then so I gave them an earlier reunion. I'm not sure when the next update for this story will be, but I'll try and post the next chapter within a shorter time frame than this one, which will most likely be the case since I don't have that much work to do now. Until next time.
> 
> Masao is a Japanese name that means righteous.


	17. Making up for Lost Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I’m such a bad writer for my continuous inconsistency in updates. But have no fear, there should be no more inconsistency for the time being now that I have finished my first trimester at university and can put my focus back into my writing :). This chapter takes place during Appa’s Lost Days, and I think you guys know what that means…

Immediately after Azula and Izanami reunited, the two friends quickly caught each other up on what had been happening recently in their lives. Azula had given Izanami a spotless recount of her altercation with the Avatar not too long ago, while Izanami had expressed her struggles over her brothers passing. Truth be told, this was the first time since they first met each other when they were children that they had been separated, so it had been strange for them to not be in each other’s presence since they had grown so accustomed to it in the past few years. By the time they had caught each other up, it was like they hadn’t missed anything at all.

Of course, there were the occasional appearances from Mai and Ty Lee, who both offered their condolences to Izanami on her loss, but also welcomed her back to their group. It was good for Izanami to be surrounded by the support that Azula, Mai and Ty Lee offered her, unlike her parents who simply dismissed her grief like it was nothing. Another good thing about being with her friends was the distraction that it gave her from the grief that was overwhelming inside of her. Plus, Izanami could always count on them to make her feel better if she was feeling down. Azula was always able to take her mind off things, while Ty Lee’s up-beat personality was enough to make her feel better and Mai was able to distract her from her sadness.

Once the four friends had gotten reacquainted with each other, they were quick to plan their next move. It was clear to Izanami that Azula intended on capturing the Avatar, just like she wanted to capture her brother and uncle. But the question was, how? Given the fact that the Avatar was outside of Ba Sing Se, it was safe to assume that he was somewhere inside Ba Sing Se and given the fact that they were Fire Nation, it would be practically impossible for them to sneak inside. There was also the fact that they had no idea where Iroh and Zuko were, since the last time they saw them was in the abandoned town some time ago.

Currently, the four girls were sitting around their campsite as they plotted their next move. Izanami could tell that Azula was more determined than ever to put an end to this mission so that they could all go home, but they were at a loss of possible options. As much as Azula wanted to go home, Izanami would much rather spend time travelling with her friends since it was better than having to put up with her parents at home. Izanami would just have to make the most of the time she had with her friends before dealing with her parents, who were for sure going to give her trouble over her surprising exit.

“Alright, let’s go over what we know,” Azula announced.

“Iroh and Zuko have to be somewhere in the Earth Kingdom,” Ty Lee pointed out.

Azula rolled her eyes, “Right, because that’s the only place they can actually go to. Apart from the obvious, what do we know?”

“The Avatar is probably somewhere in Ba Sing Se,” Izanami nodded.

“They didn’t have their beast with them, didn’t they?” Mai questioned.

Azula nodded, “True, they didn’t. But it very well could’ve been waiting somewhere while they dismantled the drill. So, what else do we know?”

“That it takes a lot of washing to get slurry out of your hair,” Ty Lee said.

“What does that have to do with this?” Azula snapped.

“It might come in handy down the road. Oh, I know, we could use slurry to distract them,” Ty Lee suggested.

“Where would we get the slurry from?” Izanami questioned.

Ty Lee shrugged, “It’s just an idea.”

“A bad one,” Azula muttered.

“Can we move onto something more exciting?” Mai asked lazily as she sat on a nearby chair.

“Can you contribute to our conversation?” Azula retorted.

“I thought we’d already established that we didn’t know much. So why are we going over what we already know?” Mai questioned.

“She has a point,” Izanami agreed.

Azula sighed, “Fine. We’ll take a break and then try to think of another plan.”

“That sounds fun! Hey, Mai, let’s go flirt with the workers!” Ty Lee exclaimed as she dragged a reluctant Mai out of the room.

“Ugh, those two can be so frustrating at times. I don’t know how I managed to deal with them without you,” Azula complained.

“Well, we both know that Mai and Ty Lee aren’t master strategists. But they do have a point, we don’t really know much at all so there’s not much we can do,” Izanami reasoned.

“Things would be so much easier if we could just get into Ba Sing Se and take the Avatar so that we could use him to trap Uncle fatso and Zuzu, since they’re surely still probably looking for them,” Azula said.

“Why can’t we just sneak into Ba Sing Se ourselves?” Izanami asked.

“Because, security around Ba Sing Se has become expectantly tighter since the beginning of the war. It’s practically impossible to get inside the city without a legitimate passport and the required legal documents, which we don’t have,” Azula explained.

“How come we can’t just fake our own passports?” Izanami suggested.

“That’s easier said then done. Ba Sing Se always does it’s background checks on anyone who enters the city. Even then, we’d have to find a way to get inside since they have that Agni-forsaken secret entry that we haven’t found the location of,” Azula explained.

Izanami sighed, “Oh. Then we really are at a loss, aren’t we?”

“Unfortunately. Until we can find a way to infiltrate the city without being caught, there is nothing that we can do about the Avatar. Our best bet would be to remain focused on finding Iroh and Zuko,” Azula declared.

“What are the odds that Iroh and Zuko are in Ba Sing Se as well?” Izanami mused.

Azula raised her eyes, “What makes you think that?”

“Well, Iroh and Zuko always end up showing up exactly where the Avatar is. Remember the abandoned town?” Izanami pointed out.

“You do have a good point. But they would have the same problem of sneaking in as we would. If only there was some way to track them,” Azula snapped.

“We still have the lizards, right? We could use them to scour the area to see if there’s any sign of Iroh and Zuko nearby,” Izanami suggested.

“I suppose it’s better than nothing. Very well, I’ll make sure the lizards are ready and that Mai and Ty Lee are aware of our next move,” Azula conceded.

Knowing that Azula would want them to be on the move as soon as possible, Izanami knew that she’d have to get ready herself so she spent her time preparing herself for what was sure to be a busy afternoon.

~*•°•*~

In no time at all, Azula, Izanami, Mai and Ty Lee were quick to leave their main base with their mongoose lizards to aid them on their search. Instead of splitting up, the group decided to stay together in case they did come across their target and had to engage in battle. For the most part, they found nothing since there was nothing but trees and grass that surrounded them. Izanami couldn’t help but notice how different the Earth Kingdom’s landscape was compared to the Fire Nation. For instance, the Earth Kingdom terrain was more plain whereas the Fire Nation had more picturesque views. Izanami figured that it was probably due to the fact that the Earth Kingdom’s terrain was constantly used as a battle ground, whereas the Fire Nation’s wasn’t.

Part of Izanami felt bad, knowing that her nation was responsible for the condition of their land. It wasn’t fair that the land had to suffer as a result of the war. Maybe if the Earth Kingdom wasn’t constantly under attack the land would have time to flourish like the Fire Nation’s did. Putting her guilt aside, Izanami put her attention back on their task at hand, which was tracking down Iroh and Zuko.

As Izanami looked around, she started to notice some sort of white substance that was occasionally laying around or stuck in the trees. It seemed peculiar to Izanami, since she wasn’t aware of any trees that had white in them. Either it was some rare Earth Kingdom tree that Izanami didn’t know about, or it was something else.

“What’s the hold up, Izana?” Azula’s voice brought her out of her thoughts.

Glancing around, Izanami noticed that her friends were way ahead of her, while she was back a fair bit from where they were. They probably didn’t notice the white substance that surrounded them, which seemed odd to Izanami since Azula always kept her eyes open for anything.

“Haven’t you seen the white stuff hanging in the trees?” Izanami asked.

“What white stuff?” Azula questioned as she steered her lizard back towards Izanami.

“There,” Izanami answered as she pointed to where the white substance hanged.

“I have to admit, it did pass my attention. I’ll have to take a closer look,” Azula stated.

Just as she said she would, Azula hopped off her lizard before picking up a piece of the white substance that laid on the ground nearby. After examining it for a moment, Azula turned around and glanced at her friends with a satisfied look on her face.

“What is it?” Ty Lee asked.

“This is the Avatar’s bison’s fur,” Azula replied.

“I thought it looked familiar,” Izanami murmured.

“That must mean that we’re close to the bison. If Zuzu had been past here, surely, he would’ve noticed it. So, perhaps if we follow the trail we might not only find what we came looking for, but a little extra to play to our advantage,” Azula said.

“I still say this is a waste of time,” Mai muttered.

With no time to waste, the four friends headed off in the direction of the white fur to hopefully find what they were looking for. If she was being completely honest, Izanami wasn’t entirely sure what they would find by the end of the day. Izanami just prepared herself for whatever might come her way, since she really didn’t know what could possibly be install for them.

Soon after they followed the trail of white fur, they came across what looked like a battlefield, since the trees were destroyed and the ground had been caved in. There was also dozens of fur lying around, even more of it the further they went. Something had to have happened to cause this much damage, and Izanami assumed that it had something to do with the bison.

“We’re getting closer,” Azula stated as they continued to follow the trail of fur.

Not long after that, Izanami heard the sound of muffled voices up ahead, which only got louder as the lizards scampered across the ground at rapid speed. As they got closer, Izanami recognised the Avatar’s bison, and just as they suspected, the Avatar was nowhere to be seen. Although surprisingly, surrounding the bison were shackles and several women dressed in green, who Izanami had never seen before. The bison even licked one of the girls, and Izanami shuddered at the saliva that was surely on that tongue.

To Izanami’s surprise, the bison seemed to take notice of their appearance as he suddenly turned in their direction, causing the girls in green to do the same. So that they had nowhere to run, Azula fired a lighting strike at a nearby tree, causing it to fall down and block the pathway. The foursome of Azula, Izanami, Mai and Ty Lee chose that moment to make their appearance on their mongoose lizards.

“My, my, you’re easy to find. It’s really astounding my brother hasn’t captured you yet,” Azula commented with a smirk on her face as she held up clump of the bison’s fur.

The girls in green were obviously threatened by their sudden appearance as they draw their shield fans, which took Izanami by surprise. The bison also growled at them, and Izanami couldn’t blame it for doing that given it’s previous experiences with the foursome.

“What do you want with us?” the girl in the front demanded, who Izanami assumed was their leader.

“Who are you? The Avatar’s _fan girls?”_ Azula mocked them.

“Oh, I get it. Good one, Azula,” Ty Lee complimented her.

“If you’re looking for the Avatar, you’re out of luck,” their leader snapped.

“We kind of figured that,” Izanami said.

Mai gave a bored sigh, “I knew this was a waste of time.”

“No Avatar, huh. Well, that’s okay. Any friend of the Avatar,” Azula mused in a pleasant voice before it turned into a deadly one as she jumped off the mongoose lizard, “Is an enemy of mine!”

As she leaped forward, Azula firebended at the bison, who the girls in green protected him by moving their shields together. Azula firebended again at Appa as the girls tried to protect him by moving their shield fans together. Ty Lee and Mai jumped off their mongoose lizards as Mai faced two of the girls and threw three shuriken at them, pinning one of them to a tree.

“Huh?” the girl exclaimed as she looked at the weapons on her right arm in confusion.

“You’re so colourful it’s making me nauseous!” Mai drawled as she threw a bunch of darts at the second girl.

The girl unsheathed her sword and used it to deflect the darts before swinging it at Ty Lee, who managed to get behind the girl and perform chi blocking, rendering her powerless.

“You’re not prettier than we are,” Ty Lee snarled disdainfully.

Suddenly, one of the girls threw their knife at Ty Lee, which Izanami saw heading towards her friend’s head. Thinking quickly, Izanami sent a blaze of fire towards the knife, which haltered its advance on Ty Lee. Izanami then sent a blazing arc of fire at the girl who sent the knife towards her friend, who jumped in the air to avoid her attack. However, Izanami simply kicked another blast of fire from her feet at the girl, who was unable to avoid it a second time as she fell on the ground in a heap.

“If you come for _my_ friends, you have to deal with _me_ ,” Izanami stated.

Meanwhile, Azula was coping perfectly fine as she faced off against the leader of the girls in green. The leader defended the bison from Azula’s firebending blasts with her fan shield, which Izanami was surprised to see in use. Azula summoned another blast of blue fire and the warrior took the blast and deflected it to the side where it set the fallen tree behind them on fire. That seemed to frighten the animal, which Izanami knew Azula would use to her advantage.

“Afraid of fire, I see. That’s good. You should be,” Azula commented smugly.

The leader unsheathed her sword and pointed it at Azula, “Go, Appa! Fly away from here!”

 _So that’s its name? It kind of suits him, for a bison._ Izanami thought to herself.

Using the moment to his advantage, Appa flew up and the warrior charged at Azula with her sword. In retaliation, Azula jumped up and knocked the sword out of her hand and into a nearby tree. Azula fired another blast at the girl, who blocked it with her shield and tried to kick Azula, only for Azula to take that as an opportunity to knock her down.

Just when it seemed like Appa was going to fly away, Izanami saw him look down at the struggling warrior. Instead of making a break for it, Appa flew down to defend her, while Azula prepared to strike another blast of fire. At the same time, Izanami was fending off one of the other warriors who were trying to take a shot at Azula, which she did by throwing her fans at Azula who ducked out of the way. The two girls shared a glance before cornering the girl and knocking her down together. Out of the corner of her eye, Izanami saw their leader pick up a torch of fire and wave it in front of the bison.

“Get out of here! You have to find Aang! We’ll be okay!” the girl yelled.

Listening to the girl’s commands, Appa backed away from Suki and flew away, which distracted her from what was happening around her. Using the warrior’s distraction to her advantage, Azula shot a blast of fire that hit the girls shield, causing her to step back and wield her fan.

“Don’t you know fans just make flames stronger?” Azula stated smugly.

Once again, the two fighters charged towards each other, with Azula firing another blast and the other girl deflecting it with her fans. As the girl leaped in the air, Azula took that as an opportunity to knock her down from her feet. Being caught by surprise, the girl fell to the ground in a tangled heap. Signalling her friends to help her, the four cornered the girl, leaving her with nowhere to run or no way to defend herself as she struggled to get up.

“If you surrender now, we won’t hurt you _that_ much,” Azula offered.

“No. I’ll never surrender,” the girl proclaimed as she stood up and nervously stood against the other girls.

“Okay. Don’t say we weren’t nice about it,” Azula said.

Realising that she had little to no options left, the cornered girl charged towards her opponents who wasted no time in apprehending her. Mai shot darts at her while Azula and Izanami sent a blaze of fire at her, which knocked her back on the ground. Now that she was down and out, Ty Lee quickly overwhelmed her and took that as an opportunity to chi block the girl, rendering her powerless.

“We gave you the option to surrender. You didn’t have to end up this way. Now you and your little friends are ours. Girls, round them up,” Azula ordered.

Not needing to be told twice, they quickly gathered up the girls and tied them up before lining them around together. Although their faces were hidden by the face paint, their shame could be seen from a mile away.

“Isn’t this a pretty sight?” Azula mocked them.

“No, it’s not. They’re dresses are hideous,” Mai snapped.

“They’re _kimonos,_ ” one of the warriors pointed out.

“Do not correct us! You are _our_ prisoners and we are _your_ superiors,” Azula proclaimed.

“What are we going to do with them?” Izanami asked.

“We could take make-up advice from them,” Ty Lee suggested.

“I thought they weren’t prettier than us…” Izanami trailed off.

Ty Lee blushed, “Well, they’re not. But it could come in handy.”

“We will not be taking any advice from these pathetic girls. Not after we beat them,” Azula said.

“Then what do we do?” Mai asked.

“First, we get them back to the main base before we find out what they know. They might even prove to be useful to us. Izana and I will remain here to guard them while you two send in some reinforcements. Don’t take too long,” Azula ordered.

It didn’t take Mai and Ty Lee to follow Azula’s instructions before they headed off back to their base to bring back some reinforcements, which left Azula and Izanami to guard the girls. Part of Izanami felt bad for putting them in that situation, since they didn’t deserve to be prisoners just because they were on the wrong side of the war. But Izanami knew that there was no point in trying to convince Azula to let them go, since Azula would use every tactic she knew to get what she wanted form the girls, whether they liked it or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how was that chapter for you guys? Now that I can write a lot more, you can expect updates to come more frequently, but they’ll still probably come every two weeks, since I have my other fics to work on in the meantime (which you guys should check out). Until the next chapter…


	18. Masked Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s the next chapter, which takes place a short time after the last one. Nothing much to go on, since this one is kinda a filler but at the same time it’s not. On another note, this story has hit a combined total of one hundred favourites and follows so thank you all for the support so far. Same as always, italics are thoughts/memories and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter :).

A few hours after Azula, Izanami, Mai and Ty Lee had apprehended the female warriors in the forest, they had taken them to the rendezvous point for interrogation. While Izanami wasn't really sure what they had to offer, Azula was positive that they could use them to their advantage in some way. Once they had separated all of the warriors, Azula and Izanami went off to speak to their leader to see what she had to say.

"Do you really think that she's going to tell us anything?" Izanami asked.

"It would be in her best interest to tell us what we want to know. If she chooses to be difficult, then whatever happens next is on her shoulders," Azula replied.

"You promise you won't do anything out of line, right?" Izanami checked as they stood outside the room.

Azula rolled her eyes, "Yes, I won't do anything out of line."

When they were ready, Azula and Izanami walked inside the room where their leader was waiting for them. To neither of their surprise, the girl just sat there glaring at them. Her face was a lot more easier to read now that she had been stripped of her face paint. It was clear that she was angry about the situation, and Izanami couldn't blame her.

"So you do clean up well," Azula commented with a smirk. "How nice?"

"What do you want from me?" she hissed.

"Can you tell us what your name is, first?" Izanami asked carefully.

"Why should I tell you?" the girl snapped.

"From my perspective, I want to at least know your name if we're going to talk to you," Izanami said.

The girl narrowed her eyes at Izanami, "Suki. My name is Suki."

Izanami smiled, "That's a nice name."

Azula scoffed, "You know that we're not here to make friends with her, Izanami."

"I'm just being polite," Izanami held up her hands.

"Maybe I should've brought Mai with me," Azula muttered. She'd expect this sort of behaviour from Ty Lee, but not Izanami.

"Let's just get this over with," the girl, Suki, murmured.

Azula nodded, "I agree. So, first things first. Tell me where your people are from."

"Why should I?" Suki asked.

Azula leaned over the table as she gave Suki a threatening glare, "I'm sure that you know what I'm capable of, Suki. But in case you have any doubts, I am the most powerful bender you will ever meet and it would be wrong of you to get on my bad side. That will be your final warning."

"Please cooperate with us, Suki. We don't want to have anymore problems. Just answer our questions," Izanami pleaded.

Suki raised her eyebrows, "So does that make you the good cop and her the bad cop?"

Izanami chuckled, "I guess it does. That's just how we were. Now please, cooperate with us."

"Fine. I guess you're going to find out eventually," Suki sighed. "We're from Kyoshi Island."

"The island in the South Sea?" Azula clarified before Suki nodded, confirming Azula's assumption.

"That would make you guys the Kyoshi Warriors," Izanami stated.

"Yes, we are," Suki confirmed before turning to Izanami, "How did you know that?"

"I like to learn a lot about the outside world, and I read that Kyoshi Island had it's own warriors named after Avatar Kyoshi," Izanami replied.

Suki glared at Azula, "Who was a more powerful bender than you could ever be."

Azula ignored the dig. She had more important things to worry about than the girls snappy attitude. Besides, Azula would deal with her later. Right now, she had an interrogation to focus on.

"What were you doing with the Avatar's bison?" Azula interrogated.

"He was lost. We found him wounded so we helped nurse him back to health," Suki responded.

Azula pursed her lips, "What were you going to do had we not shown up?"

"We were going to take Appa back to the Avatar, since he was missing and they were looking for him," Suki answered.

"That must've been why the Avatar was at Ba Sing Se," Azula murmured thoughtfully.

"Is there anything else that you can tell us?" Izanami asked.

"That's all I know. That they were in Ba Sing Se to find their bison," Suki stated confidently.

Izanami glanced at Azula, "Are we done?"

Azula nodded after a moment of silence, "Yes, we are done with her. Let's move on."

"Wait, what's going to happen to me?" Suki asked.

Azula smirked, "You're going on a little vacation. I must say, the place you are going to is one of the top destinations in the Fire Nation. Not many people get the opportunity to visit it. But you will have plenty of company."

"What about my friends?" Suki stood up.

"They'll be taken somewhere else, don't worry. Someone will come to collect you soon and take you to your destination. Come along now, Izana," Azula said as she left the room.

Izanami glanced back at Suki as she followed Azula out the door and mouthed, "I'm sorry."

Now that they were done with her interrogation, it was time for Azula and Izanami to decide what they were going to do next. While Izanami had no idea what they could do with this new information, she knew that Azula would have a dozen scenarios planned already. That was one of the good things about working with Azula, since you could always count on her to have anything planned for anything.

As they walked together, Izanami noticed the thoughtful look on Azula's face and she knew that her friend was thinking about their interrogation with the Kyoshi Warrior. For Izanami, the situation had been somewhat ironic since Suki had referred to them as the good cop and the bad cop. Although it was never a tactic that they agreed on, it was just how they handled situations that they faced together.

"What are you thinking about?" Izanami inquired.

"She's not telling us everything," Azula stated.

"What are you going to do about it?" Izanami questioned, not even bothering to ask how Azula knew that since her friend always seemed to be able to tell when someone was hiding something.

"Nothing. I'm sure that we'll find out whatever it is eventually. As for her, she can pay for her untruthfulness by rotting away in prison. I'm sure it could do her some good," Azula answered.

Izanami sighed, "Are you really just going to throw her into prison?"

"Of course. It's what she deserves for being Earth Kingdom scum and for withholding information from me," Azula replied.

"I guess so," Izanami murmured.

"Izanami, I can tell you are finding this difficult. I understand that this must be difficult for you, but you should not let your personal feelings cloud your judgement in situations like this," Azula reminded her.

"I know," Izanami whispered before turning to Azula. "So, what do we do now?"

"We'll take a break before we regroup with Mai and Ty Lee. I have a plan that I'll have to rearrange beforehand," Azula replied.

"Alright. I'll be waiting," Izanami said before leaving Azula to plot what she had to plot.

After being friends with Azula for as long as she had been, Izanami knew that it was best to leave Azula to herself whenever she was plotting something. Besides, Izanami knew that once Azula figured out what course of action they were going to take that she would be the first to know. Well, second if you counted Azula herself.

~*•°•*~

Hours passed before Izanami saw Azula again. In that time, Izanami put her focused onto refining her firebending, since she hadn't practised that much in the time that she was home. And being here with Azula didn't leave her many opportunities to practice. But with Azula off plotting away, that gave Izanami the perfect opportunity to train. Knowing Azula, whatever she had planned would most likely require their skills, so Izanami wanted to be ready when the time came.

One thing that Izanami had realised as a result of recent events was how much she truly connected with her firebending. Izanami was six when she first made her first blast of fire, and she had never been more happier in her life at the new development. Of course, with Kazu being the brother that he was, he made it his mission to teach his little sister everything he knew about the sacred art of firebending. Those were the times that Izanami truly treasured with her brother, since it was just them, without a care in the world.

It was nine years ago, when Izanami was six and her older brother Kazu was fifteen. After discovering her firebending a few months ago, Kazu had promised to teach his little sister everything he knew. Although it was Izanami who had pleaded with him to teach her, Kazu would've done that anyways. He would've done anything for his little sister.

"I can't do it," Izanami groaned as she failed to properly perform the move that Kazu had shown her for the fifth time in a row.

"Why can't you do it?" Kazu asked her.

"Because it's hard!" Izanami exclaimed as she crossed her arms.

Kazu sighed, "What have you been doing so far, Izzy?"

"I've been using my muscles and my strength to make my blasts but it's not working!" Izanami complained.

"Izzy, what have I told you about firebending?" Kazu asked as he crouched down to his sister's level.

"That it's the most powerful and unique of the bending arts," Izanami replied.

"Well, yes. But I've also told you that firebending comes from your breath, not your muscles," Kazu reminded her as he demonstrated to his sister. "First, you maintain your stance and breathe through your motions to produce fire. Do you understand?"

"No. Everyone at school always uses their anger. That's what we've been told," Izanami stated.

"Look, Izzy, not everyone has the same technique when it comes to bending. While both might work in some cases, the true catalyst of firebending is your breath, not your emotions. Sure, they might make it more powerful, but it's the power of your breath that makes your firebending what it is," Kazu explained.

"Then why would they teach me that in school?" Izanami asked.

"Sometimes people want to teach you what they want to teach you, even if it's not the right way. There's always a hidden truth somewhere," Kazu replied.

"So, using my breathing is the right way?" Izanami clarified.

Kazu nodded, "Yes. That's where a firebenders true power comes from. Do you wanna try again?"

"Okay," Izanami conceded.

Taking a few steps back, Izanami got into her opening position before reciting the moves that Kazu had shown her before. Unlike the other times, Izanami used her breathing to fuel her bending like Kazu had told her and this time, it actually worked as she elicited a powerful blast of fire that wasn't like anything she had done before.

"I did it! I did it! I did it!" Izanami repeated as she jumped around.

"That you did, Izzy," Kazu laughed. "Did you find it easier to use your breathing?"

Izanami nodded, "It made it easier. They should teach us that in school."

"They really should," Kazu agreed. "But even if they don't, you still have me to teach you."

"Can you teach me something else? Huh, can you?" Izanami asked excitedly.

Kazu laughed, "Of course I can. Now, just watch what I do and do it exactly as I do it."

With an excited grin on her face, Izanami kept her focus on her brother as he went through his movements, each of them captivating her attention like they always did. One thing for certain was that Kazu never had to tell Izanami to pay attention to him, since she always watched her brother like he was the centre of her universe, which he pretty much was.

That was one of Izanami's fondest memories with her brother. She could always count on Kazu to teach her all kinds of cool stuff, and she looked up to her older brother because he knew so much. Now, at the same age as her brother when he was in that memory, Izanami understood what he meant by saying that sometimes people want to teach you what they wanted to, even if it wasn't the right way. After growing up in the Fire Nation all her life, Izanami understood how skewed her nation's perception of their way of life was. Not that she'd ever voice her opinions, of course.

Sighing, Izanami went back to her practicing as she remembered everything that Kazu had taught her. While all her brother had showed her was the basics, Izanami still went through them as it felt like Kazu was watching over her as she did so. That very well may be the case, only for it to be in spirit rather than in person.

"I was told that you'd be here," Azula's voice caught her attention.

Izanami turned to face her friend standing at the doorway, "Hi, Az. Any reason why you're here?"

"Yes, actually. I have devised a plan that involves you, Mai and Ty Lee so I want you all to be together when I explain it so that I do not have to go over it more than necessary," Azula explained.

Izanami nodded, "Alright, let's get moving."

As much as Izanami's curiosity had been spiked by Azula's supposed plan, Izanami knew that she'd find out in due time. To speed things up, she and Azula quickly made their way to where Mai and Ty Lee were waiting for them. When Izanami looked around, she caught the sight of the Kyoshi Warrior's uniforms hanging on a rack nearby and she wondered what they were doing in there. Izanami would've thought that they'd be stored away or burned.

"Hi, Izana!" Ty Lee chirped upon seeing her friend.

"What is this about?" Mai asked.

"Yeah, what's this plan of yours, Zula?" Izanami added.

"After doing some thought, I have come up with a plan that may get us inside the walls of Ba Sing Se with very little hassle," Azula started.

"How? They'd know we're Fire Nation," Mai pointed out.

"Yes, which is why we'd need a disguise," Azula said as she gestured to the rack of the Kyoshi Warrior's uniform.

Izanami nodded in understanding, "So, we dress up as the Kyoshi Warriors?"

Azula nodded, "Exactly. They wouldn't suspect a thing if we showed up dressed in their uniform requesting an audience with the Earth King. And, it is safe to assume that the Avatar is acquainted with these warriors so they would most likely vouch for us."

"So, we get to be sneaky, huh? That's exciting!" Ty Lee exclaimed.

"I do see a flaw in your plan, Azula," Izanami said carefully.

"And what would that be?" Azula asked.

"What if the Avatar sees us and knows that we're not the real Kyoshi Warriors? We'll most likely be thrown in prison after that," Izanami pointed out.

"She has a point," Mai agreed.

"Which is why our timing must be perfect. We must keep our eyes and ears open for any development in the Avatar's visit to the Earth Kingdom. Once they're gone, that is when we make our appearance," Azula explained.

"I like it," Ty Lee approved.

Mai rolled her eyes, "You like anything Azula thinks of."

"That's because her ideas are so great!" Ty Lee exclaimed.

"That they are, Ty Lee," Azula smirked.

"But what do we do now?" Izanami asked.

"Until we get the perfect opportunity to make our entrance, we wait. But I can assure you that it will be worth it since after all, good things happen to those who wait," Azula proclaimed.

It was clear to Izanami that Azula was confident that her plan would work. While Izanami had to admit it's brilliance, there were some high risks involved with sneaking into the Earth Kingdom's capital like they planned on doing. Izanami would just have to wait and see how it all panned out, even if it meant waiting for it to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said earlier, this chapter was kind of a filler but the next few chapters are gonna have more than that since the girls will make their entrance into the Earth Kingdom. The bit with Izanami and Kazu pretty much came out of nowhere but I wanted to squeeze a few more words in and I liked the idea of giving Kazu another mention. Anyways, keep your eyes open for the next chapter which I promise won’t be that long in the waiting.


	19. Infiltrating the Palace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re almost in the twenties now and getting towards the end of season two, so things are gonna start heating up now. On another note, I recently found out that there is another story with the same name as this one which also centres around Azula but that is a complete coincidence. I just thought that the name I gave it was appropriate, and apparently, I’m not the only one. Also, I’m back at uni now so updates might be delayed again but I’ll try my best. This chapter takes place in the Guru.

Just as Azula said they would, they patiently waited for any development in the Avatar’s visit to Ba Sing Se. Thanks to their sources, they had managed to find out that one of the Earth Kings trusted advisors had been exposed as a liar, which definitely worked to their advantage. It was also reported that the Avatar and his group was planning on splitting up to seek their own endeavours. That gave them the perfect opportunity to sneak their way into the city without causing too much problems.

Dressed in their Kyoshi Warrior attire, Azula, Izanami, Mai and Ty Lee were able to convince the guards that guarded the city that they were here to see the Earth King. Much to Izanami’s surprise, the guards had believed their story after they were supposedly supported by the Avatar’s friends, which didn’t surprise Azula. Now that they had entered the city, all they had to do was put their plan into action to take the Earth Kingdom away right from under them.

Once they were inside Ba Sing Se’s walls, Izanami couldn’t help but be amazed at how breathtaking the city was. It’s walls certainly deceived what it looked like on the inside, since the city was huge. While Izanami had heard many stories about the great city of Ba Sing Se, it was truly a sight to behold. It wasn’t like anything she had ever seen in the Fire Nation before.

“It’s amazing,” Izanami commented as they road around the city on the carriage that would take them to the Earth King’s palace.

“Not as impressive as the Fire Nation,” Azula snorted.

“Which is something that you should keep to yourself,” Izanami muttered.

“Ugh, I can’t wait to get this makeup off my face,” Mai complained.

“Look on the bright side, Mai. At least now you don’t have to act so depressed,” Ty Lee said.

“It is a bit much,” Azula added.

“I read that it was to intimidate their opponents,” Izanami stated.

“Well, it makes them look more ridiculous than anything,” Azula commented.

“Let’s just keep our distaste for the Kyoshi Warriors uniform to ourselves, okay?” Izanami suggested.

“I like it,” Ty Lee murmured.

“What do we do when we get there?” Mai asked.

“Just follow my lead,” Azula replied.

Eventually, they were escorted to the Royal Palace where they were greeted by several guards who treated them with the utmost of respect. Any doubts that they had about their plan working were washed away as they were quickly lead to the palace entry where the Earth King was waiting to greet them.

When they arrived at the palace entry, there were two lines of Earth Kingdom soldiers standing opposite to each other. Although they were told that the Earth King would be there to greet them, Izanami was still surprised to see that the Earth King had come out to welcome them, since they were practically strangers to him. Izanami had a feeling that the Avatars reassurance had something to do with their warm reception. Once they reached the king, they bowed down out of respect, even though they had anything but that for the man in front of them.

“In our hour of need, it is with the highest honour that I welcome our esteemed allies, the Kyoshi Warriors!” the king greeted them.

The four girls looked up as Azula responded to the Earth King’s welcome, “We are the Earth Kings humble servants.”

Based on the welcome that they had received, Izanami was confident that Azula’s plan would be able to work without a hitch, since that’s how things usually panned out for them. If not, Izanami was sure that Azula would be able to work it out for them one way or another.

~*•°•*~

After their original reception outside the palace, the girls were taken inside for a proper tour of where they would be staying until they conquered the Earth Kingdom. As they were shown around, Izanami couldn’t help but notice how different their royal palace was compared to the one in the Fire Nation. For starters, everything was green which was to be expected considering it was the Earth Kingdom’s main colour. There were also less places to go outside like there were in the Fire Nation Royal Palace and the halls were much larger as well.

Once their tour was over, the girls were taken into the Earth King’s throne room, which was also remarkably different than the one in the Fire Nation. Most notably, there wasn’t any blazing fire that hid the Earth King like it hid the Fire Lord. The Earth King’s throne room was also more open-spaced than the Fire Lord’s was, so it wasn’t as intimidating being in his presence compared to what it was being in Fire Lord Ozai’s presence.

However, that wasn’t the main thing that Izanami noticed about the Earth King’s throne room. The one thing that caught her attention the most was the fact that there was a _bear_ just lying beneath the Earth King’s throne.

“Am I going crazy or do you guys see the bear as well?” Izanami whispered to the others.

“You mean the platypus bear?” Azula clarified.

“No I’m pretty sure she means gopher bear,” Ty Lee corrected.

“Surely she means armadillo bear,” Mai added.

“Skunk bear?” Azula suggested.

“No, it’s just a bear,” Izanami stated as she gestured to the bear that simply ignored them.

“Okay, that’s weird,” Azula commented.

“You’re telling me,” Izanami muttered.

Soon enough, the Earth King – who’s name they’d learned was Kuei – entered the throne ring and positioned himself on his throne next to the bear. Since the King didn’t seem fazed one bit by the bear, Izanami assumed that it must’ve belonged to him. By that point, the girls had kneeled down in front of him to show their respect.

“Hello, girls. I’m sure that you’ve met Bosco by now. Bosco, these are – I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your names,” the King said.

“My name is Azami, that is Naoki, Jia and Hua,” Azula introduced us as she pointed to me, Ty Lee and Mai respectively. I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of Mai’s name.

“Look Bosco! The Kyoshi Warriors are here to protect us,” the King exclaimed as he adoringly grabbed the bears ace. “Aren’t you excited?”

It was clear that the bear seemed anything but excited to see them as he dismissed Kuei’s adoration and let out a yawn. Izanami couldn’t help but wonder why someone whose status was as high as the Earth King’s would have something like a pet bear. That’s definitely something that you wouldn’t see in the Fire Nation.

“It’s been a difficult week for me. My most trusted advisor, Long Feng and his Dai Li agents tried to take control of Ba Sing Se from me,” the King explained.

“It’s terrible when you can’t trust the people who are closest to you,” Azula stated and Izanami couldn’t help but inwardly scoff at the irony of her words. But she also couldn’t help but notice the look that Mai and Ty Lee shared behind them at that comment.

“But, there is good news. As we speak, the Council of Five is meeting to plan an invasion of the Fire Nation this summer, on the day of a solar eclipse,” the King replied.

Both Azula and Izanami’s eyes slightly widened with shock and worry upon hearing this as they shared a quick look before hiding their reactions.

“Really? Now that sounds like a fascinating and brilliant plan,” Azula said calmly, hiding her true reaction.

“Yes, it is. And it all came from the Avatar and his friends who brought it to my attention. According to them, the eclipse will take place on the first day of the eighth month this year,” the King revealed.

“That’s not too far around the corner,” Azula observed, since it was only just a few months away.

For the rest of their time with the Earth King, the girls simply sat patiently as he told them more than what he should’ve. If the man knew that he was telling this to four Fire Nation girls who planned on taking his kingdom away from him, he probably wouldn’t be telling them this information. So, Izanami was glad that nobody knew their true identity and she was hoping that it would stay that way.

~*•°•*~

Later that night the girls were cleaning themselves up in the building where they were staying after a day of pretending to be the Kyoshi Warriors. Almost immediately after their initial meeting with the Earth King, he showed them how to clean up Bosco’s poop which they had been doing ever since. It was certainly not what Izanami had signed up for, but she supposed it was better than putting up with her parents constant nagging.

Pretending to be a Kyoshi Warrior was definitely more annoying than Izanami thought it would be, since the makeup that they had to wear was annoying to say the least. As Izanami scrubbed her own face clean, Mai and Ty Lee did the same although Ty Lee wore a smile on her face as she did so.

“We have been presented with an extraordinary opportunity, girls,” Azula stated.

“Mai finally gets to wear make-up that’s not totally depressing?” Ty Lee asked as Azula walked past towards a window.

Mai turned to face Ty Lee with large, dark splotches of black makeup dripping down her eyes as she sarcastically commented, “Ha, ha.”

“I’m talking about conquering the whole Earth Kingdom,” Azula replied as Mai and Ty Lee turned with shocked looks, while Izanami simply watched Azula as she stood in front of the window. “For one hundred years, the Fire Nation has hammered away at Ba Sing Se from the outside. But now we’re on the inside, and we can take it by ourselves.”

“Gosh, you’re so confident. I really admire that about you,” Ty Lee praised Azula admiringly.

“From the inside, we’re in perfect position to organise a coup and overthrow the Earth King. The key is the Dai Li. Whoever controls the Dai Li controls Ba Sing Se,” Azula stated as she turned back to them.

“That sounds nice and all, but how are we supposed to control the Dai Li? Surely, they wouldn’t just let a group of girls boss them around,” Izanami commented.

“Which is why they must know we want what they want, control of the city,” Azula replied.

“And how do we let them know that?” Mai asked as she finished up cleaning one of her eyes.

“By acting like Fire Nation citizens when they’re around but they won’t know that we know they’re around,” Azula answered.

Ty Lee looked confused, “But if we’re being Fire Nation around them, they’ll be around us and we’re Fire Nation so they’ll be around Fire Nation girls when we’re trying –“

“Maybe you should let Azula talk,” Izanami interrupted her.

“As I was saying, the Dai Li will most likely be secretly on watch, so we’ll have to pick the perfect moment to give away our cover when nobody else is around. Once we have control of the Dai Li, that is when we will strike,” Azula explained.

“But what if the Avatar returns before we’re ready?” Izanami asked.

“If what we have been told is correct, the Avatar only left yesterday and he and his posse will be gone for the rest of the week. That should give us plenty of time to prepare so that if by any chance they do show up, it’ll be too late,” Azula replied.

“So until then we have to wear this garbage while pretending to enjoy cleaning up bear poop? What fun,” Mai commented sarcastically.

“If all goes well, we won’t have to clean up any bear poop for long,” Azula said.

“When do we make our move?” Izanami questioned.

“As soon as possible,” Azula answered.

Once the girls had cleaned all of the Kyoshi Warrior makeup off their face, they happily retreated to their beds with thoughts of finally succeeding in what the Fire Nation had failed to do for so many years on their minds. The next few days would certainly be interesting for them, that was for sure.

~*•°•*~

Just as Azula said they would, the girls put their plan into action as soon as they could, which was the next day. It was decided that they would expose themselves as Fire Nation outside the palace in the hopes that there would be a Dai Li agent around to deliver the message. As Mai and Ty Lee sat near the steps, Azula waited patiently behind one of the pillars. What she didn’t know was that Izanami was slowly approaching her from behind.

“Princess Azula, you are under arrest for impersonating the Kyoshi Warriors,” Izanami stated in her best manly voice as she could.

Azula instantly turned around, her eyes wide before she spotted Izanami standing there and groaned. Izanami on the other hand, was beside herself with laughter. Though, not too much laughter so that she would get spotted.

“What are you doing here?” Azula hissed.

“Just thought I’d see if you were still on your toes, which obviously you aren’t since you were so shocked to see me,” Izanami replied.

“You should be with Mai and Ty Lee, not with me. Do you want to risk us getting caught?” Azula asked.

Izanami raised an eyebrow, “Isn’t that what we’re supposed to be doing?”

Azula groaned, “Just do what I told you to do.”

“Alright,” Izanami said with a chuckle as she headed over to wear Mai and Ty Lee were. Though, she couldn’t help but notice two figures that were clinging to two of the pillars nearby. Maybe exposing themselves to the Dai Li wouldn’t be as hard as Izanami thought it would be.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Izanami got herself into character as she reached Mai and Ty Lee. Mai was sitting on the stairs while Ty Lee was practicing chi blocking and acrobatics, not that she needed any practice.

“Hey, guys,” Izanami greeted them as she gestured to where the Dai Li agents were hiding, hoping that they would get the message, which they seemed to understand.

“Hi, Izana,” Ty Lee addressed her.

Izanami widened her eyes in fake-alarm, “Don’t call me that! My name is _Naoki_.”

“Opps, sorry Naoki,” Ty Lee apologised with a wink.

Mai sighed in annoyance, “I’m tired of wearing this girly disguise. I don’t know how anyone could fight in this.”

“Plus, the makeup is a bit excessive,” Izanami added.

“Maybe that’s why it was so easy to beat the Kyoshi Warriors and take their clothes,” Ty Lee suggested as she did a few quick jabs at the air.

“How much longer do we have to serve the Earth King? If I have to clean up one more pile of bear poop, I’m going to throw up,” Mai complained.

“Why does he even have a pet bare?” Izanami wondered.

“Princess Azula promised we would go back to the Fire Nation as soon as we captured the Avatar. We just have to be patient,” Ty Lee reasoned.

Mai stood up, “Shush up! Do you want the whole palace to know we’re Fire Nation?”

“Sorry!” Ty Lee apologised.

Only a few moments later were they joined by Azula who had been hiding behind another pillar. Izanami assumed that the Dai Li agents must’ve disappeared after their revelation.

“Good work, girls. I’m sure the Dai Li will deliver the message,” Azula stated.

Izanami turned to Ty Lee, “Seriously, Ty, you need to remember that while we’re here, my name is _Naoki._ We only want the Dai Li to know that we’re not Fire Nation and you already called me by my name this morning when one of the servants walked by.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just hard to remember since you’ve always been Izana to me,” Ty Lee said.

“It doesn’t matter, girls. Stage one of our plan is in the works and now all we have to do is wait for stage two to begin,” Azula proclaimed.

“Now we have to go back to cleaning up bear poop,” Mai muttered.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be over before you know it,” Azula promised.

~*•°•*~

Later that day, the girls had found themselves once again in the Earth King’s throne room. So far, they had had very little struggle in maintaining their front as the Kyoshi Warriors. In fact, the only struggle they had faced was pretending to like the Earth King and everything he stood for. While the Earth King was off doing who knows what, they were left with watching over his throne room. Only once they were sure there was nobody around to listen to them did they speak freely with one another.

“Az, what are you going to do about their plan for the invasion?” Izanami asked, since it was a question that had been on her mind ever since they first heard the plan.

“Nothing, for now. Only once we are back in the Fire Nation will I be able to do anything about it,” Azula replied.

“Okay, but then what?” Izanami prodded.

Azula chuckled, “Izana, do you really believe that any foolish invasion against our great nation would work?”

“Well, no,” Izanami admitted.

“The only way this plan would’ve had any chance of succeeding was if it had been a surprise attack, which thanks to the Earth King’s stupidity, it is now not,” Azula stated.

“So, you’re not going to do anything to stop it?” Izanami clarified.

“I don’t see any reason to do it, unless you can of course,” Azula said.

Suddenly, the doors to the Earth King’s throne room were forced open and Izanami widened her eyes in surprise as she saw the Water Tribe girl come running towards them with some scroll in her hands. Much to Izanami’s relief, she didn’t seem to recognise that they weren’t who she thought they were.

“Thank goodness you’re here, Suki. Something terrible is going on. The Fire Nation has infiltrated the city, I just saw Prince Zuko and his uncle!” the girl exclaimed.

That definitely caught their attention as Azula’s eyes widened in surprise before she smiled slyly. Izanami, on the other hand was off in wonder. What on Earth was _Zuko,_ of all people, doing in Ba Sing Se, the capital of the Earth Kingdom along with his uncle? The same person who tried to break through the city’s walls not too long ago.

“We have to tell the Earth King right away!” the girl yelled urgently.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll be sure to let him know,” Azula said calmly.

Something seemed to register in the Water Tribe girl’s mind as she realised who they truly were. The girl prepare to attack, but before she could do anything, Ty Lee quickly jumped forward and blocked her chi. They barely even noticed the lemur had flown away until he was out of reach.

“So, Zuzu’s in the city, too? I think it’s time for a family reunion,” Azula stated.

“Um, Azula, I doubt Iroh and Zuko would just come here and visit us on their own free will,” Ty Lee pointed out.

“Yeah, we’d have to think of another way to get them here,” Izanami added.

“No worries. You three take care of our new _friend_ while I go make the appropriate arrangements for my family reunion,” Azula ordered before walking off.

It amazed Izanami how Azula didn’t even seem to bat an eyelash as she gave them their instructions and simply walked off, leaving them with the Water Tribe girl as she laid on the ground with a puddle of water surrounding her.

“What should we do with her?” Ty Lee asked.

“You’re chi-blocking lasts for a while, doesn’t it?” Izanami checked.

“Yeah, so?” Ty Lee replied.

“That would give us plenty of time to move her to our chambers where nobody will think to find her. Once we find a better place to hide her, we’ll move her there since we don’t really have many options at this point,” Izanami stated.

“How are we going to move her?” Mai questioned.

“We’ll just have to carry her around with us. If anybody asks us what we’re up to, we’ll just say that we’re hanging out, since we are supposed to be friends with them,” Izanami answered.

“You’re so smart, Izanami. Just like Azula,” Ty Lee praised her.

“Well, I have been taking notes,” Izanami commented.

“You won’t get away with this!” the girl proclaimed as they picked her up.

“Really, because it looks like we’re getting away with it,” Izanami pointed out.

The girl glared at her, “Just wait! My friends will realise something is wrong and come to find me, then you’ll be sorry you ever set foot in here!”

“Your friends? Aren’t they all supposed to be away from here, with no way of knowing that you’ve fallen into the hands of the enemy?” Izanami asked, noticing how the girls eyes fell at her realisation.

“I’ll break free! I’m one of the best waterbenders in the world!” the girl proclaimed.

“You can’t bend right now though, can you? So shut up,” Mai hissed as they lead her out the throne room.

The glares that the girl sent their way were an obvious indication as to how she felt about them in this very moment and Izanami couldn’t blame her, since if she was in her position, she’d hate them too.

~*•°•*~

Night had soon fallen and the girls were now resting in their chambers with the addition of the Water Tribe girl as their prisoner. However, they hadn’t seen Azula since she left the throne room and Izanami was beginning to worry. If Azula got in trouble, their whole operation would be blown and there would be no way out for them.

“Do you guys have any idea where Azula is?” Izanami asked Mai and Ty Lee.

“Nope. We haven’t seen her since she left us with the Water Tribe girl,” Ty Lee replied.

“Can you get her to shut up? If she keeps on yelling and screaming she’s going to bring attention to us,” Mai said.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Izanami conceded.

Carefully, Izanami walked into the other room where they were keeping the Water Tribe girl prisoner. They had managed to find some chains which they were using to keep her hands restricted so she couldn’t bend. When Izanami entered the room, the girl was still screaming as she tried to break free from her chains.

“Let me go!” she yelled.

“Shh, be quiet!” Izanami hissed.

“Why should I listen to you?” the girl seethed.

“Because, if you get us caught you’ll put all of us in trouble. Plus, you’re friends as well. Surely you don’t want that,” Izanami reasoned.

The girl glared at her, “You know, I really thought you were different compared to that psycho princess but I was clearly wrong since you’re just as bad as she is!”

“That’s your fault for underestimating me,” Izanami shrugged.

“But you’ve underestimated my friends, which you’ll soon regret when they show up to save me and put you Fire Nation rats in your place!” she said.

“What reason would they have to finish their plans early? We have plans of our own that are going _swimmingly_ as you would say and by the time your friends return, it’ll be too late,” Izanami stated.

“They’ll know something’s wrong, just wait!” the girl insisted.

Izanami rolled her eyes, “Sure, they will by some cosmic energy they’ll know that we’ve captured you and are holding you hostage in the Upper Ring.”

“We’ll see who’s sarcastic when my friends prove you wrong!” the girl exclaimed.

“That’ll be us since by proving us wrong, you’d have to prove Azula wrong and she’s never wrong,” Izanami said.

Before either of them could say or do anything else, they were joined by another presence in the room. Izanami turned to see Azula standing in the doorway and she let out a sigh of relief upon seeing her friend there.

“Azula, where have you been?” Izanami asked, forgetting about the Water Tribe girl beside them.

“Well, after I left you all in the throne room I sent off a message that would get uncle and Zuzu’s attention before I ran into some wonderful helpers,” Azula replied.

Izanami raised her eyebrows, “Helpers?”

“I believe you are familiar with the Dai Li,” Azula said to the Water Tribe girl as she gestured behind her, where two men walked inside the room who Izanami recognised as Dai Li agents.

“What are they doing here?” Izanami asked nervously.

“They’re here to make our living conditions far more pleasant since I doubt she has been anything but that,” Azula answered as the Dai Li headed towards the Water Tribe girl. “You know where to take her. Come now, Izana. Let the men do their job.”

“How did you run into the Dai Li?” Izanami questioned once they were outside the room.

“Well, I didn’t actually run into them. They practically cornered me before taking me down to the palace dungeons where I met with their previous leader, who knew of my true identity. You’re performance certainly did it’s trick,” Azula smirked.

“So, they’ll help us?” Izanami checked.

“They wouldn’t be taking her away if they weren’t going to help us. Not only that, their leader has placed them in my command so they’ll have no choice but to follow me,” Azula said.

Izanami grinned, “That’s great, Azula.”

“Indeed it is. Just think, Izanami. We’re so close to conquering the once un-conquerable Earth Kingdom. The same thing my uncle failed to do. Only we’re not going to fail. We’re going to succeed and bring us one step closer to victory,” Azula proclaimed.

Sharing a smirk with Azula, the girls headed off to Mai and Ty Lee to share the good news. While her appearance may had said otherwise, Izanami still had her apprehensions about what they were trying to achieve. Not only because of the huge risk they were taking, but because of the toll it was taking on her inner conscience. She’d worry about that later, since right now, Azula was her friend who needed her support and that would come first before anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, glad that chapters over. It took a bit longer to write cause my computer was spazing out for a bit and I had no internet connection so I couldn’t check my writing. The moment of confusion about the kings bear was inspired by the same moment from the City of Walls and Secrets, which I find so funny that it would be so rare to find something as ordinary as a bear in the Avatar World. Also, I’ve seen a lot of things about the moment with Mai and Ty Lee when they’re first in the Earth King’s throne room which is questionable in hindsight based on how things turned out. While you guys wait for the next chapter, keep your eyes out for my Azula Week works which will be posted sometime during this week.  
> As for the names, Azam is a Japanese name that means thistle flower, Naoki is a Japanese name that means docile tree, Jia is a Chinese name that means beautiful and Hua is a Japanese name that means happy, hence the irony.


	20. There's a New Queen in Town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I'm sorry for not posting this chapter sooner. I always forget to post my stories onto my AO3 account until days after I've already posted them on fanfiction. So, if you guys want faster updates you should follow me on there since I actually update properly. As of this chapter, we're now out of the teens and into the twenties and this one takes place during the Crossroads of Destiny.

Now that Azula had the Dai Li agents on her side, the girls had decided to move their plans forward to overtake the Earth Kingdom. As it turned out, the Dai Li’s former leader had placed them under Azula’s leadership until they overthrew the king, which surprised Izanami. Things seemed to be going _too_ well for them right now and Izanami feared that something catastrophic was around the corner, although Azula seemed confident that their plan would work.

Currently, they were in the statue storage room with all of the Dai Li as Azula went over the basics of their plan. If she was being completely honest, Izanami felt somewhat weird being surrounded by all of the Dai Li agents, since she still didn’t fully trust them. But if Azula was putting her faith in them, then Izanami figured that she should do the same as well.

“The Earth King and thee Council of Five do not trust the Dai Li. They imprisoned your leader, Long Feng. Soon they will turn on all of you and eliminate you. Seizing power today is a matter of life and death,” Azula declared as she paced back and forth

As Azula walked around, Izanami couldn’t help but notice one Dai Li agent in particular with a moustache who started to look nervous and slightly lowered his head. Izanami made a mental note to keep her eyes on him as Azula continued her speech.

“This coup must be swift and decisive. The Earth King and each of the five generals must be taken out simultaneously. Long Feng has placed you in my command while we overthrow the government,” Azula continued and Izanami noticed another agent with tiny, vertical scar on his right cheek.

Azula seemed to notice the agent as well and she went to address the rest of them, although it seemed as though she was addressing him out of all of them, “If I sense any disloyalty, any hesitation, any weakness at all, I will snuff it out. That is all.”

With her speech finished, all of the Dai Li agents proceeded to leave the room. Azula then walked up to Ty Lee who was pouring tea while the others waited for her.

“Nice speech, Azula. It was pretty and poetic, but also scary in a good way,” Ty Lee praised her as she handed the cup to Azula.

“Yeah. I thought you were going to make that one guy pee his pants,” Mai agreed, amused.

“There are still a few loose ends. The Avatar, and my brother and uncle,” Azula commented as she took a sip of her tea.

“I thought you said you had your brother and uncle taken care of,” Izanami said.

“I know how to get them here without causing any fuss, but it’s a matter of getting them right where I want them,” Azula admitted.

“And how are you going to do that?” Ty Lee queried.

“I’m confident that everything will work out, just like it has so far. There will be no need to worry,” Azula stated confidently.

“What about the Dai Li?” Izanami questioned.

“What about them?” Azula replied.

“Aren’t you worried about what they’ll do once their old leader is out of prison? The only reason why they’re working with us is because he told them too,” Izanami pointed out.

“There will be no need to worry about that. When the time comes for them to chose I’m confident that they’ll make the right choice,” Azula insisted.

“If you say so,” Izanami murmured.

As of now, there was so much on the line for all of them. If this plan didn’t work out there was no telling what would happen to them so for their sake, Izanami hoped that everything would work out just like Azula said it would.

~*•°•*~

In the hours that followed, Izanami’s nerves only increased as the reality of their situation dawned on her. They were about to conquer the Earth Kingdom’s greatest stronghold. Although their plan appeared to be full proof, Izanami worried about everything coming crashing down on them. If that did happen, there was no telling where they’d end up.

Just like she said she would, Azula had gone off to take care of Iroh and Zuko which let Izanami, Mai and Ty Lee to wait with the Earth King for Azula’s arrival. They were only seconds away from putting their plan into action and although Izanami had her reservations about taking down the Council of Five, she had a feeling that they would have an easier job at getting the Earth King and his pet bear.

When Izanami knows its time, she shares a look with Mai and Ty Lee who all nodded at each other. Now, they had to wait for the Dai Li to do their part in taking out the Council of Five before they made their move on the Earth King. However, just as Izanami feared it would, their plan started to come crashing down when two of the Avatar’s friends ran into the throne room.

“Thank goodness we’re in time!” the Water Tribe boy exclaimed.

“In time for what?” the King asked, confused.

“Yeah. What are you in time for, cutie?” Ty Lee asked as she did a cartwheel towards the Water Tribe boy.

“Uh, I’m kinda involved with Suki,” the Water Tribe boy said somewhat nervously.

“Who?” Ty Lee asked.

Before Ty Lee could even react, the earthbender knocked her away with her earthbending although Ty Lee was able to evade the attack unharmed as she flipped up above them.

“They’re not the real Kyoshi Warriors!” the earthbender exclaimed – whose name Izanami remembered as Toph – which caused the King to gasp in surprise at the revelation.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” Mai drawled.

Getting into attacking mode, Mai shot some of her daggers at Toph, who used an earth shield to stop them and kicked the shield towards Mai who jumped over it. Toph then brought up another pillar, knocking her over. Izanami then launched a fire blast at her as a way to distract her, but not to hurt her.

“Toph, look out!” the Water Tribe boy warned her.

Ty Lee then approached the Water Tribe boy, laughing as she started to try jabbing him, although he managed to evade most of them.

“Oooh, it’s like we’re dancing together!” Ty Lee cooed with a smile.

“This fight is over,” another voice entered the room.

Turning around, Izanami saw Azula standing behind the king’s throne as she held him at flame-point. Toph and the Water Tribe boy immediately surrendered, and Ty Lee chi blocked them. Izanami noticed their lemur flying away, so she blocked it’s path with some firebending before a Dai Li agent trapped it with a rock glove. Azula then shoved the King down.

“Get them all out of my sight,” Azula barked.

All three of them were then escorted out of the room including the Earth King’s bear. Izanami then noticed another man walking into the room with some Dai Li agents behind him, so she figured that he was the mysterious Long Feng.

“Now comes the part where I double cross you. Dai Li, arrest the Fire Nation princess!” Long Feng ordered, only none of the Dai Li agents moved, much to Long Feng’s disappointment. “I said arrest her! What is wrong with you!?”

Izanami prepared herself to defend her friend if necessary, but a stern look from Azula told her that the other girl had everything under control. Standing back, Izanami observed the rest of the showdown taking place, waiting to see how it would all end.

“It’s because they haven’t made up their minds. They’re waiting to see how this is going to end,” Azula stated.

“What are you talking about?” Long Feng asked.

“I can see your whole history in your eyes. You were born with nothing, so you’ve had to struggle, and connive, and claw your way to power. But true power, the divine right to rule, is something you’re born with. The fact is, they don’t know which one of us is going to be sitting on that throne, and which one is going to be bowing down,” Azula orated.

It never ceased to amaze Izanami with how easy Azula was able to read people. She couldn’t help but notice how the man in front of Azula seemed to be getting more nervous with each word that she spoke.

“But I know, and you know,” Azula finished as she sat down on the throne and crossed her legs, “Well?”

Long Feng then proceeded to walk towards Azula before bowing down, much to Izanami’s surprise, “You’ve beaten me at my own game.”

“Don’t flatter yourself! You were never even a player,” Azula remarked, causing Izanami to stifle back a scoff at her attitude. But it was true, Long Feng never really stood a chance against Azula. Nobody ever did.

“Um… what do we do now?” Izanami asked awkwardly as a tense silence filled the air.

“Dai Li, take Long Feng _back_ to the dungeons. I will decide a more _permanent_ place for him to reside in,” Azula ordered and the Dai Li easily obeyed her, taking their former leader back into custody.

“Well, I’d say that was a pretty good success,” Izanami commented.

“Don’t get too confident just yet, Izana. If the Avatar’s stooges have returned from their little vacation, then I’m sure that the Avatar would be somewhere around here,” Azula said.

“Where do you think the Avatar could be?” Izanami asked.

“He’s probably off looking for that washed-up peasant and since Zuzu is in her acquaintance, it’s probably going to lead to some sort of confrontation,” Azula replied.

“Does that mean we go there as well?” Izanami questioned.

Azula nodded, “Yes, it does. I have no doubt that uncle will show up to save his _precious_ nephew so he’s probably with the Avatar as well. That way we can finally have that proper family reunion.”

“After you, then,” Izanami said, gesturing for Azula to lead the way.

Together, the two girls left the throne room as they headed off towards their next destination. Despite everything going according to plan so far, Izanami knew that what was about to happen next would be the defining moment in their plan. Given how things had worked out for them so far, Izanami was growing more confident at the prospect of their plan actually working.

~*•°•*~

Along with two Dai Li agents, Azula and Izanami headed towards the Crystal Catacombs where Zuko and the Water Tribe girl were being held captive. However, by the time they arrived at seemed as though the Avatar and Iroh had already beaten them to it, since it was just Zuko and Iroh left with the Water Tribe girl gone. They just barely arrived in time to hear Iroh’s last words spoken to his nephew.

“It’s time for you to choose. It’s time for you to choose good,” Iroh probed.

At first, Izanami wasn’t so sure how Azula would react to this but one look at the smirk on her face told her that Azula would handle everything. The Dai Li agents used their earthbending to encase Iroh, causing Zuko to yell as he assumed a fighting position to prepare for intruders. The two girls and the Dai Li agents then slide down from the sides of the chamber.

“I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle. But Zuko, _Prince_ Zuko, you’re a lot of things, but you’re not a traitor, are you?” Azula said.

“Release him immediately,” Zuko ordered.

“It’s not too late for you, Zuko. You can still redeem yourself,” Azula said, her voice dripping in false kindness. If she was being completely honest, Izanami wasn’t sure if Azula was offering her brother a chance at redemption or if she was just trying to lure him into another trap.

“The kind of redemption she offers is not for you,” Iroh shouted to Zuko.

“Why don’t let _him_ decide, Uncle?” Azula remarked before she turned to Zuko as she spoke. “I need you, Zuko. I’ve plotted every moth of this day, this glorious day in Fire Nation history, and the only way we win is together. At the end of this day, you will have your honour back. You will have father’s love. You will have everything you want.”

Much to Izanami’s surprised, it seemed as though Azula really was being genuine in her offer for Zuko, although she still wasn’t sure why he was vital for their plan since after all, bring in Zuko was never something that they had discussed.

“It might be too late for Miss Izanami to decide but Zuko, I am begging you. Look into your heart and see what it is that you truly want,” Iroh pleaded.

“Leave Izanami out of this! Unlike you, Uncle, Izanami is a loyal friend who would never betray me,” Azula snapped before she addressed Zuko. “You a free to choose.”

Leaving Iroh and Zuko behind, Azula and Izanami exited the area together as they headed off after the Avatar and the Water Tribe girl. As they did so, Izanami couldn’t help but wonder what Iroh meant by saying it was too late for her to decide. Izanami had already decided what path she was going to take. She wouldn’t be helping Azula if she hadn’t.

“Since when did coaxing Zuko to join us become a part of our plan?” Izanami asked as they ran through the Crystal Catacombs.

“The more people we have on our side, the better. While dear Zuzu is certainly expendable, it is better to have him on our side than to have him with the Avatar. Only then would our plan be in jeopardy,” Azula replied.

“And what if Zuko doesn’t join us?” Izanami questioned.

“He will. If there’s one thing I know from dealing with Zuzu is that he is easily manipulated and the thought of having his honour and father’s love will be too good for him to pass up,” Azula answered before gesturing for Izanami to give her some space. “Now, if you would just take a few steps back that would be appreciated.”

“Why?” Izanami asked, only for her question to be answered as Azula shot a bolt of lightning ahead of them. Izanami then turned to see the Avatar and the Water Tribe girl standing there as they tried to avoid the attack. She hadn’t even realised that they were this close to them.

The Water Tribe girl than used waterbending to stop another lightning attack from Azula. As they waited for Azula to reappear, Izanami shot her own blast of fire at them to give Azula more room to attack. Using the mist from the vaporised water to her advantage, Azula jumped into the air as she firebended two blasts of blue fire. For good measure, Izanami added her own firebending to the mix. Together, the Avatar and the Waterbender used waterbending to shield themselves against the combined attacks.

After that, Azula jumped onto a large rock and the Avatar used earthbending on the pillar, causing Azula to gasp as she noticed the pillar crumbling beneath her. Meanwhile, Izanami kept the waterbender busy as they engaged in battle. The waterbender launched several ice spears at Izanami, only for her to vaporise them all with her firebending. Azula then jumped off the rock and landed between the Avatar and the waterbender, with Izanami standing opposite to her as she pointed at both of them, preparing to attack.

However, a fire blast stopped her from attack and they all looked to see the source of the fire blast to be Zuko. It seemed as though he was in the last stages of making up his mind as he glanced from Azula and Izanami to the Avatar and the waterbender before ultimately choosing who to attack. In the end, he decided to attack the Avatar who used airbending to jump away from the blast. Azula and Izanami then started duelling with the waterbender as Zuko threw multiple fire blasts at the Avatar.

While Zuko battled with the Avatar, Azula and Izanami battled with the waterbender. As they charged towards her, she sent a wave of water that Azula just barely managed to dodge as it cut through her hair. Izanami couldn’t help but notice the look on her face at that action and had to hide her laugh. Forced to take on two at once, the waterbender used her bending to slam Izanami against a nearby rock before encasing her with ice, leaving her stuck there as Azula faced the battle on her own. Since Izanami wasn’t exactly a master like Azula was, she couldn’t use her bending to free herself so she was forced to watch the battle go on.

Down below, the waterbender managed to encase herself with her element as she used it to stop Azula’s firebending. One water tentacle captured Azula’s hand and another one captured her foot. For a moment, Izanami thought Azula was done for before Zuko freed his sister by using firebending to break the tentacles. Now that she was free, Azula headed towards Izanami who remained trapped in ice and used her firebending to melt it so that she would be free as well. Luckily, Izanami was able to land on the ground in one piece as the ice collapsed beneath her.

“Thanks,” Izanami smiled as she brushed off some of the ice that had slipped into her clothes.

“Don’t mention it,” Azula said before turning towards the crater that the Avatar had created as he crawled out from it.

“I thought you had changed!” the waterbender grunted.

“I have changed,” Zuko stated as he fired another blast.

Deciding to leave Zuko to deal with her, Azula and Izanami focused on the Avatar. Azula then used her firebending to charge towards the Avatar with Izanami doing the same behind her. The Avatar earthbended crystals around him into a crystal encased armour and charged towards Azula and Izanami. Azula stopped and used her firebending to break through his crystal amour and send him flying back into an old building.

Turning their attention back on the waterbender, Izanami haltered her advance as she leaped into the air before joining Azula and Zuko in their attack. Hopelessly outnumbered, the waterbender was knocked down against a nearby set of crystals. A loud noise suddenly echoed throughout the cavern and the Avatar jumped from the old building and earth surfed towards Azula and Zuko as if he was trying to stop their attacks.

It would all be for nothing as a Dai Li agent broke the Avatar’s surf, knocking him down. More Dai Li agents then gathered behind Azula, Zuko and Izanami. The waterbender then used her waterbending to form some type of octopus to defend herself. The Avatar stood up and surveyed the seen, with the three firebenders standing directly opposite to him.

Suddenly, the Avatar turned away from them before earthbending a crystal tent. That was an unexpected turn of events and Izanami shared a look with Azula as they waited for whatever was about to happen. A brilliant light then shone throughout the cave before the crystal broke and the Avatar ascended into the air, his eyes and tattoos glowing. Nerves shot through Izanami as she realised that he was in the Avatar State and was probably about to deliver a deathly blow against them all.

Everything after that seemed to happen in slow motion as a loud lightning strike echoed throughout the cave. The Avatar’s body then plummeted towards the ground, with his eyes and tattoos no longer glowing. Knowing that there was only one possible source for that lightning strike, Izanami turned to Azula in horror, hardly grasping the fact that Azula had just potentially _killed_ the Avatar. The waterbender managed to react faster than she did as a large wave suddenly knocked her and several of the Dai Li agents down, just barely catching the Avatar’s body.

Although Izanami had seen plenty of horrible things in her life so far, she had never seen death happen right in front of her. Azula and Zuko prepared to attack the waterbender, but a blast of fire stopped them. That managed to get Izanami’s focus back on as she noticed Iroh jumping down from the wall of the cave and shielded them from Zuko and Azula.

“You’ve got to get out of here! I’ll hold them off as long as I can!” Iroh shouted as he fired some blasts at Azula and Zuko.

Listening to Iroh, the waterbender walked away with the Avatar’s body towards a waterfall and she used her waterbending to lift her and the Avatar up its path. Iroh managed to hold off the Dai Li agents until after the Avatar and the waterbender left. He then surrendered to the Dai Li, who used earthbending to encase him in crystals. Izanami noticed how Zuko looked at Iroh who closed his eyes and turned away from his nephew.

“What are your orders for us now, Princess?” one of the Dai Li agents asked Azula once they were gone.

“Dai Li, make sure that my uncle is properly restrained as you escort him to the prison,” Azula ordered.

Doing what Azula said, the Dai Li agents assembled around Iroh before freeing him from his crystal prison and escorting him out of the cave. That left just Azula, Izanami and Zuko alone to survey the area.

“I knew you would make the right decision, Zuko,” Azula said to her brother.

“We appreciate your help, Prince Zuko,” Izanami added.

“Your welcome…” Zuko trailed off.

“How about we get ourselves dusted off and celebrate our victory? We just conquered the so-called ‘impenetrable city’ that our uncle couldn’t even do. And Zuko, I’m sure Mai would love to see you,” Azula suggested.

Izanami couldn’t help but laugh at the mention of Mai, since she knew that the other girl would love to see Zuko after all these years. She could already imagine the teasing that they would get from all of them.

~*•°•*~

Unfortunately for Zuko, his reunion with Mai was put on hold as Azula quickly dragged them to what used to be the Earth King’s throne room. While they had found out that the Avatar’s friends had managed to escape, it didn’t seem to worry Azula as they had saw the Avatar die before their very eyes. Without the Avatar, there was no hope left for the world and anything they tried would be in vain.

“We’ve done it, Zuko. It’s taken a hundred years, but the Fire Nation has conquered Ba Sing Se,” Azula crowed as she sat on the throne.

“I betrayed Uncle,” Zuko murmured.

“No, he betrayed you,” Azula said as she stood up from the throne. “Zuko, when you return home, father will welcome you as a war hero.”

“But I don’t have the Avatar. What if father doesn’t restore my honour?” Zuko wondered.

“He doesn’t need to, Zuko,” Azula reassured him as she put a hand on his shoulder. “Today, you restored your own honour.”

Zuko sighed as he looked away, “I need some time to myself.”

“Take as much time as you need, Zuko,” Azula said.

It seemed to take forever for Zuko to eventually leave the throne room and once he did, Izanami took one look at Azula to assess her friend. Although Azula was mostly good at hiding her emotions, Izanami was able to see through it most of the time. Izanami was hoping that she would be able to see some sort of remorse on her friend, but she saw nothing. Just satisfaction, not even a twinge of regret.

“Something on your mind, Izana?” Azula asked.

“How are you feeling?” Izanami inquired.

“Victorious, superior and a twinge of tiredness but that’s to be expected,” Azula replied with a wave of her hand. “Why?”

“You don’t even feel bad about it?” Izanami questioned.

“Bad about what?” Azula wondered.

“The Avatar. You killed him,” Izanami stated.

“Kill is such a strong word, Izana,” Azula dismissed her.

“But you _killed_ him,” Izanami repeated. “ Because of you the Avatar is dead. How can you just sit there and act like it was nothing?”

“Are you sure about that?” Azula asked.

Izanami raised an eyebrow, “You think the Avatar survived.”

“Knowing the waterbender, she very well could have saved his life. It wasn’t like I struck the lightning through a lethal part of his body,” Azula explained.

“So, what are you going to tell your father then?” Izanami asked.

“You leave that to me,” Azula smirked.

Realising that she wasn’t going to get anything form Azula, Izanami sighed as she bid her friend goodnight before returning to her quarters. Their plan had been a roaring success, much more than Izanami expected it to be. Now that they had achieved what they had set out to do, they would be returning to the Fire Nation which for Izanami went dealing with some things that she would much rather not deal with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that turned out longer than I thought it would. Book Two is now done and dusted and I’ll be moving onto Book Three next. I’m already looking forward to writing Izanami into certain episodes that will definitely be worth the wait. As for the title of this chapter, according to Avatar Wikia Azula briefly lead the Earth Kingdom in the Spring since they kind of needed a leader. Now I’m wondering who lead it once she was done, lol.


	21. Going Home Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I’m really eager to get to the main part of this story, I’m gonna try my best to update once a week instead of making you guys wait. This chapter takes place directly after the last one, but before the Awakening.

Everything that happened after the Coup of Ba Sing Se was almost like a blur for Izanami. She was more than happy to take a step back and let Azula handled things, which was exactly what her friend did. Despite being used to seeing Azula in an authoritative position, it was still unusual to see Azula standing behind so much power. As Azula made the appropriate arrangements for the Earth Kingdom, she also prepared their trip back home. According to Azula, it would only be a few more days before everything was ready for them to leave so that they could return to the Fire Nation.

Truth be told, Izanami was nervous about the thought of returning home, simply because she wasn’t so sure how she would be welcomed by her parents. She had just left them barely without a word, only a letter saying that she was leaving and that she didn’t know when she would be returning. Maybe if Izanami was savvy enough, she could convince her parents that it had been right for her and them as well for her to leave. After all, she had helped the Princess of the Fire Nation conquer Ba Sing Se. Once her parents had heard of her achievements, Izanami was sure that they would be more understanding. If not, Izanami could always get Azula to back her up.

Currently, Izanami was sitting in her newly acquired room in the Earth Kingdom Palace. After their successful coup, Azula had taken the liberty of upgrading them to a more luxurious suite. Now that they no longer had to pretend to be the Kyoshi Warriors, Izanami had changed back into her usual attire, which she was thankful for since she had felt so wrong wearing Earth Kingdom clothes. Not only because those weren’t her colours, but because of wrong it was for her to wear them.

“Miss Izanami,” a voice from the door snapped her out of her thoughts.

Turning around, Izanami saw one of the Dai Li agents standing there. Since they now officially had no leader, Azula had made the Dai Li into her own personal body guards and would be taking a select few back to the Fire Nation with them.

“Yes?” Izanami acknowledged the man.

“Princess Azula has requested your presence in the throne room,” the agent stated.

“Thank you. I will be there shortly,” Izanami replied.

Even though the Dai Li had all but pledged their allegiance to Azula, Izanami still didn’t trust them so it wasn’t until she was alone that she headed off towards the throne room. When she arrived, there were several Dai Li agents standing in front of the throne, which Azula lazily sat on. Just like Izanami, Azula had also changed back into her typical Fire Nation clothes.

“Ah, Izana. Good to see you got my message,” Azula greeted her.

“What did you want to see me about?” Izanami asked.

“Well, I just wanted to test out the Dai Li but it’s also worth mentioning that we’ll be leaving the Earth Kingdom tomorrow night,” Azula replied.

Izanami’s eyes widened, “So soon? What about the city? They don’t even know that we’ve won.”

“Pft, those peasants don’t matter. The Fire Nation army is already on their way and once the time is right, the Dai Li will open the walls so we can secure our victory,” Azula proclaimed.

“If you say so,” Izanami murmured.

“For now, come join me up here. Since you helped me achieve this, you should also know what the great feeling is like being up here,” Azula said.

Shrugging, Izanami joined Azula up near the throne and she had to admit, it did give her a pretty powerful feeling. Moments later, they were joined by Zuko who entered the throne room and Izanami noticed how he still hadn’t changed out of his Earth Kingdom clothes, even though he had been given Fire Nation attire.

“Zuzu. What a pleasant surprise,” Azula greeted her brother. “Just as I was telling Izana, I’ve finished the arrangements for our trip back to the Fire Nation – we’ll be gone by tomorrow night.”

“But you’re the leader of Ba Sing Se now,” Zuko pointed out. “You would really give up control of this whole city?”

“Don’t worry, dear brother. I’ve found the _perfect_ person to leave in charge,” Azula reassured him. “Someone who will execute the Fire Lord’s will mercilessly and without question. Supreme bureaucratic administrator Joo Dee!”

Shivering as she did so, Izanami turned to see Joo Dee – or one of the Joo Dee’s – walking towards her. Since Azula had managed to find out everything about the Dai Li, they had admitted to using several woman under the same name that had been brainwashed into doing whatever they wished.

“The Earth Nation humbly accepts this opportunity to serve the great and powerful Fire Nation. Care for a _mint_?” Joo Dee asked Zuko.

“Ba Sing Se will be safe in her care, and we can personally deliver our uncle, the traitor back to the Fire Nation,” Azula stated.

“You don’t need me for that. I’ll stay _here_ ,” Zuko insisted.

“Zuko, now that we’ve defeated the Avatar, father will welcome you as a hero. You’re the fire Prince again and you’ll have your old life back,” Azula argued.

“I already said, _I’m not going with you_!” Zuko snapped angrily.

Watching Zuko with curiosity, Izanami couldn’t help but wonder what was up with Zuko. Sure, she had never been close with him but Izanami figured that he would be more than happy to go back with them since after all, that was what he’d been trying to achieve for the past three years.

“Az, what are you going to do?” Izanami asked Azula.

“No worries, Izana. I have the perfect solution. Come with me,” Azula replied.

Doing as told, Izanami followed Azula out of the throne room. At first, Izanami had no idea what they were going to do but she soon realised that they were heading towards Ty Lee’s room and that whatever plan Azula had in mind, she was probably going to get Ty Lee on board too.

“Ty Lee! _Stop_ what you’re doing! And _listen_ to me!” Azula shouted as she entered Ty Lee’s room.

“There’s no need to shout, Azula,” Izanami murmured.

“My brother is being difficult _as usual…_ So we need some extra persuasion to make him come back with us. We know that Zuko and Mai had childhood crushes on each other…” Azula said.

“Totally!” Ty Lee perked up.

“… So, let’s get them _reacquainted_ ,” Azula suggested.

“How do we do that?” Ty Lee questioned.

“Yeah, no offence Azula, you’re not really the romantic type,” Izanami crossed her arms in amusement.

Azula smirked, “As always, just follow my lead. I have a _plan_.”

“I’m assuming you’re not going to tell us that plan,” Izanami said.

“Like I said, just follow me lead,” Azula suggested as she started to leave Ty Lee’s room. “And come with me.”

Knowing that there was no point in questioning Azula, Izanami and Ty Lee followed after their friend wondering what on earth she had install for them. But knowing Azula, it was probably something sneaky.

~*•°•*~

Later that night, Azula, Izanami, Ty Lee and the Dai Li agents were preparing for a dinner in the yard. Azula’s plan was to simply trick Mai and Zuko into meeting up so that they would go on a date, hoping that their old feelings would resurface for one another and that it would be enough to get Zuko to come home.

Although, Izanami still didn’t quite understand why she wanted Zuko to come home with them so badly. Any other day of the week, Azula would be more than happy to leave her brother behind. So, Izanami assumed that Azula had more in mind by playing matchmaker with Mai and Zuko.

“Azula, am I doing this right?” Ty Lee asked.

“No! We need more candles. And get rid of that pink tablecloth! It has to be _perfect_ ,” Azula ordered as the Dai Li agents ran in panic, hitting one another. “Faster! Move!”

Once they had finished setting up Mai and Zuko’s little date, the three girls quickly hid behind some of the nearby bushes so that they wouldn’t miss what went on. It wasn’t long before Mai and Zuko showed up, looking somewhat confused at the setup before them.

“Where is everyone? Azula told me that Admiral Liang was visiting and wanted to join us for dinner. _All_ of us,” Mai wondered.

“She told me the same thing, Mai. She’s up to _something_ …” Zuko trailed off.

Mai examined the plates, “Well, the food doesn’t look that awful. I guess we shouldn’t let it go to waste.”

“Hm, it almost tastes like Fire Nation food. Just isn’t seasoned enough,” Zuko mused as he picked around his food. One Dai Li agent came up to them and started playing a ruan, causing Zuko and Mai to cover their ears. Even Izanami covered her ears from the terrible sound that was comping from the instrument.

“Can you please stop that? You’re giving me a headache!” Zuko snapped.

“Sorry. I haven’t practiced in a while,” the Dai Li agent apologised, grinning as he walked off.

Back in the bushes, Ty Lee giggled at the display while Azula couldn’t help but snicker as well. Izanami seemed to be doing a better job at keeping quiet than the both of them, mostly because she didn’t understand what was so funny about it. Their laughter seemed to alert Zuko of the presence, which wasn’t exactly a part of their plan.

“I _know_ you’re back there, Azula! Don’t you have something important to do?” Zuko shouted.

“I don’t know _what_ you’re talking about,” Azula lied as she cleaned herself from the dust. “Izana and I were just telling Ty Lee to stop messing around in bushes. It’s undignified.”

“Hey!” Ty Lee cried indignantly.

“Let’s get out of here,” Mai whispered.

“Good idea,” Zuko agreed.

It seemed as though Azula’s plan had came into fruition, since now Mai and Zuko were heading off for some much needed _alone_ time. Based on Azula’s assumptions, that would be enough to get Zuko to come back with them to the Fire Nation, which was something that made Izanami even more nervous than it should.

~*•°•*~

The following day, the three girls were getting ready to board the ship that would take them back to the Fire Nation. They hadn’t seen Mai or Zuko since they both left their dinner table, and Azula seemed more than confident that everything had gone according to plan. Sure enough, Azula was right as both Mai and Zuko joined them at the ship.

“Aw, look,” Azula smirked as she put a hand on her hip. “The two lovebirds have gotten back together.”

“They are like, totally adorable,” Ty Lee cooed as she clapped her hands.

“Well, I’m not really sure they were _together_ in the first place,” Izanami pointed out.

“So… Are you come with us? With _me_?” Mai asked.

“I’d like to, Mai. I’m just not sure I…” Zuko trailed off.

“Poor, poor Uncle…” Azula interrupted Zuko. “I wonder if he’ll survive the trip home. Well, we must be going. I suggest you bid farewell to your girlfriend, little brother.”

There was something about the false concern in Azula’s voice that was masked behind amusement that didn’t sit well with Izanami. Even though Izanami knew that Azula hated her uncle, it still upset her to see her friend act that way. However, it seemed to be enough to make Zuko come to a final decision.

 _“No,_ ” Zuko finally said. “I’m coming with you. I’m going _back_ to the Fire Nation.”

“Do what you want, Zuzu. It’s _your_ decision,” Azula smirked.

 _That you manipulated him into making._ Izanami thought.

It never ceased to amaze Izanami how easily Azula could manipulate most people into doing what she wanted, even her own brother. You’d think that Zuko would be able to see through Azula’s manipulations, but Izanami figured that the three years away from home probably made him forget just how cunning his sister could be.

“Hey, Az, can I have a word with you?” Izanami asked Azula once they were on board their ship.

“Of course, Izana,” Azula replied.

Since this wasn’t exactly a conversation that Izanami felt like having in front of any witnesses, she dragged Azula away so that they could have this little chat in private.

“What’s on your mind?” Azula wondered.

“Well, I was just wondering… Why do you want Zuko to come back with us so badly?” Izanami questioned.

“Why would you ask that, Izana? Zuzu’s my dear brother. Of course I’d want him to come with us,” Azula answered with an obvious tone that said she was lying.

“Azula, don’t give me that. Ty Lee might not be able to see through your subtle manipulations, but I can. I know for a fact that under any other circumstances that you wouldn’t even care about bringing Zuko back. I still don’t even understand why you made him join us in the first place,” Izanami argued.

“Izana, you were always a clever one, weren’t you? That’s why you’re my favourite friend,” Azula mused.

“Just tell me what other tricks you have up your sleeves, Azula,” Izanami said.

“If you _must_ know, convincing Zuzu to join us was a last minute decision on my part. You know just as well as I do that we would’ve easily been able to win the coup without Zuzu’s help, but he was just a little bit of extra insurance,” Azula explained.

“Insurance for what?” Izanami asked.

“If I hadn’t have killed the Avatar, Zuko would’ve more than likely left with them since I could see that uncle was pulling him to the other side. Then, Zuko would’ve been the perfect candidate to train the Avatar in firebending which would lead to fathers undoing,” Azula continued.

“But you killed the Avatar anyways,” Izanami pointed out. “So really, Zuko’s allegiance to us doesn’t matter.”

“Don’t you remember what I said to you after the coup, Izana?” Azula asked.

“Honestly, I don’t really remember much after that. These past few days feel like a giant blur,” Izanami admitted.

“Well, I told you that there was a slight chance that the Avatar could’ve survived. If we left Zuko behind, he could’ve easily changed his mind _again_ and joined them to train him firebending. But now that we have Zuzu leaving with us, he’ll be in no position to leave even if he changes his mind,” Izanami finished.

“So, this is just about having Zuko on our side then?” Izanami clarified.

“Precisely. With Mai back in his sights, I’m sure Zuko wouldn’t think twice about abandoning her, since they’ve spent _so_ long apart now,” Azula drawled.

“You really are a master manipulator, Azula,” Izanami praised her friend.

Azula grinned, “You should know that by now, Izana. Now that this conversation is out of the way, lets just sit back and enjoy the rest of the trip home.”

Nodding, Izanami followed Azula through the ship, feeling a lot more relaxed about going home than she did before. Still, Izanami was nervous about ultimately facing her parents, since she knew there would be backlash for her decision that she wasn’t really sure how she would handle. For her sake, Izanami just hoped that her parents would see things her way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, not much action this chapter but things will pick up once again in the next one now that they’ll be back in the Fire Nation. I have plenty of stuff planned for Azula and Izanami in Book Three, which you guys will have to read to find out. Also, it’s worth mentioning that most of this chapter was based on the Lost Adventures Avatar Comic titled ‘Going Home Again’ which is basically Azula setting up Mai and Zuko so that he’d come home with them. In all honesty, I didn’t understand why Azula wanted Zuko to come with them so badly, but I figured that it was just for a little insurance once Azula got home since we all know how that turns out, which will be explored next chapter.


	22. Unresolved Grief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh how’s it going? I know it’s been almost a month since my last update but things got busy for me and I got lazy which lead to procrastination. But in that time I have mapped out majority of the story and it currently stands at around fifty chapters. Anyways, this chapter takes place during the Awakening and deals with Izanami’s long awaited return home.

Their journey back to the Fire Nation was remarkably uneventful compared to the last few months of their lives. Mainly because there was no Avatar to catch, since as far as they were aware the Avatar was dead. Arriving back on the Fire Nation was a little bit like déjà vu for Izanami, since this wasn’t the first time that she’d left only to return once again. Except this time, Izanami wasn’t returning to mourn the loss of her brother, even though the pain was still there.

Stepping foot on her home soil again was an unusual feeling for Izanami, since she almost felt like an outsider in her own country. Izanami wasn’t sure why she felt that way, since she didn’t feel like that the first time she returned. Although Izanami assumed that part of it was due to the fact that she was nervous about seeing her parents once again, since she wasn’t so sure how their reunion would be.

“It feels so good to be back!” Ty Lee exclaimed as they got off their boat.

“I don’t see what’s so good about it,” Mai muttered, with Zuko’s arm wrapped around her.

Another change during their return to the Fire Nation was the fact that Zuko had officially gotten together with Mai, and although the goth would never show it, Izanami could tell that Mai was happier than she’d ever been. There was something about her childhood crush on Zuko that just brought out Mai’s softer side, which was somewhat strange yet refreshing to see as well.

“We’ll be back home for good now that there’s no Avatar to chase,” Azula reassured.

“What happens now?” Zuko asked somewhat nervously, and although Izanami wasn’t so close with Azula’s brother, she assumed that he was nervous about seeing his father again.

“First, we’ll be welcomed back and worshipped like the heroes we are. From what I’ve heard, father will be arranging some sort of gala to celebrate the conquering of Ba Sing Se,” Azula replied.

Although in Azula’s and many other peoples minds they were heroes, Izanami couldn’t help but think that they were anything but that. Sure, they had in a way ended the war but in the worst way possible, allowing Fire Lord Ozai to continue his demolishing of the world. Pushing those thoughts aside, Izanami reminded herself that she wasn’t in any position to do anything even if she wanted to. Like every other Fire Nation citizen, she was resigned to being on Fire Lord Ozai’s side whether she liked it or not.

“What do we do first?” Izanami questioned.

“There’s going to be a welcoming declaration in our honour at the Royal Plaza. You are all welcome to come, of course,” Azula answered.

“In our… honour…” Zuko trailed off as he stared off in the distance.

“Yes, our honour,” Azula stated as she placed a hand on her brothers shoulder. “This would not be possible without our efforts, Zuko. We deserve to be celebrated.”

It was strange for Izanami to see Azula being so close to Zuko, since before Azula always took every chance she had to ridicule her brother and make him look like a fool. But Izanami figured that it was because Azula wanted to keep her brother on her side and she wouldn’t exactly be doing that by ridiculing him.

Once they did their initial check in, they were quickly escorted to the Fire Nation Royal Plaza where Azula and Zuko would be welcomed home. It was no surprise to Izanami that she, Mai and Ty Lee wouldn’t get any credit even though they were just as much apart of the success as Azula and Zuko were. But Izanami didn’t go feeling underappreciated since Azula always made her gratitude shown, which was more than enough for Izanami.

When they arrived at the Royal Plaza, Azula and Zuko were quickly ushered off to get changed into their royal armour while Izanami, Mai and Ty Lee were pushed to the side. Being overlooked by the royal siblings was nothing new to Izanami, but she still wished that they’d get the credit that they deserved for their part in how everything went down.

For the most part, Izanami tuned out from the welcoming service since she couldn’t be bothered paying attention to Lo and Li’s blabbering nonsense, since that was what they usually did and they were probably saying what Izanami already knew. Plus, there was no point in paying attention when Izanami could barely tell them apart. Although Lo and Li were still Azula’s masters, Izanami wondered what would happen with them now since Azula had all but proved her mastery after conquering Ba Sing Se.

Thinking about Ba Sing Se left a hollow feeling in Izanami’s heart. She couldn’t help but feel bad for the peoples lives that they’d unjustly destroyed by conquering their city. In reality, they had no right to just march in and take what was rightfully theirs but the Fire Nation didn’t care about what was morally right or wrong. They had proven that when they wiped out the Air Nomads in a ruthless genocide. Izanami found herself getting lost in her own thoughts to the point where she didn’t even notice Azula heading towards her.

“Izana, we’re finished here. We can go now,” Azula stated, only to get no response from her friend as she stared off in the distance. “Izana!”

Izanami jumped at her name, “Huh, what?”

“You looked lost there for a moment,” Azula observed.

“I was just thinking…” Izanami trailed off.

“About what?” Azula inquired.

“Nothing that you need to worry about,” Izanami reassured her friend.

Azula pursed her lips for a moment as she had a brief thought. Since Azula knew Izanami better than Izanami probably knew herself, Azula could tell when she was lying which she was doing right now. But Azula decided not to push the matter any further, since if it really was anything important Izanami would’ve told her without a doubt.

“Alright. As I was saying, we’re done here so we can leave now,” Azula said.

Izanami nodded, “Okay. What do we do now?”

“I have received word from father that our returning home gala will be held tomorrow night so I must head back to the palace to get ready. As for you, I was thinking that maybe you could use this time to see your parents. I’m sure they would want to see you,” Azula replied.

“Yeah, so they can yell at me for disobeying them,” Izanami muttered.

“While I might not know that much about your family affairs I know that your family unit is stronger than mine could ever be. With that being said, I’m sure your parents have missed you and would want to see you,” Azula insisted.

“Since when have you become such an expert in family matters?” Izanami asked.

“Look, you’ve seen how my family turned out. Do you really want to end up like us?” Azula questioned.

Izanami sighed, “No.”

“Then go home and see your parents. I will come get you as soon as time permits,” Azula reassured her.

“Gee, it’s almost like you _want_ to get rid of me,” Izanami commented.

“If I did then I would’ve thrown you overboard. Now, go!” Azula ushered her away.

Sighing, Izanami said her goodbyes to Azula and the others before heading off to the carriage that Azula had arranged for her. But Izanami had no intentions of using it, since she would much rather walk home on her own since that at least gave her as much time as she wanted. It’d also give her the chance to stall as much as she could, which she wouldn’t be able to do on her ride.

“Princess Azula has arranged for us to escort you to your house, Miss Izanami,” the rider addressed her.

“Thank you, but that won’t be necessary. I’m more than capable of walking home on my own,” Izanami replied.

“But we are under direct orders from Princess Azula to make sure that nothing happens to you,” the man beside him said nervously.

“Tell her that’s sweet but I can take care of myself. If Princess Azula gives you her wrath, I will see to it myself that she apologises,” Izanami reassured them, knowing that they were probably just nervous about disobeying direct orders.

“Very well. Good day, Miss Izanami,” the rider conceded.

“And to you,” Izanami replied.

With that taken care of, Izanami headed away from the Royal Plaza and started making her way towards her house. Although it had been some time since Izanami had been home, she could certainly remember the way to her own house from here. Normally Izanami was a relatively fast traveller, since she had grown accustomed to Azula’s fast-paced regime but Izanami wanted to make this journey on her own time.

For the most part, Izanami was well-behaved in her parents eyes but she assumed that image of her would have changed after she left against their wishes. But in time, Izanami hoped that they would understand her reasons for leaving and wouldn’t hold it against her. Izanami had already lost her relationship with her brother and she refused to loose her relationship with her parents if she could do anything about it.

Along the way, Izanami passed the cemetery where Kazu was buried, and Izanami felt a strong incline that made her want to visit the place where her brother now resided. Truthfully, Izanami hadn’t been there since his funeral. Mostly because she spent the weeks after dealing with her grief and because she was off in the Earth Kingdom with Azula. So in hindsight, Izanami felt like this visit was long overdue.

Walking through the front gates, Izanami took a deep breath as she prepared herself for what she was about to do. With each step, Izanami could feel her emotions getting the better of her and almost considered turning around and not even trying to do what she wanted. As much as Izanami wanted to see her brother, she didn’t want to see him like this. She wanted to see him alive and by her side. But Izanami knew that that wasn’t going to happen.

Sucking up all of the courage that she could, Izanami took one deep breath before making her final approach towards Kazu’s grave. It was adorned with numerous flowers, some in better condition than others. Izanami then felt bad for a brief moment since she didn’t have anything to pay respect to her brothers resting place before she realised that her presence was more than enough.

“Hi, big brother,” Izanami whispered. “Sorry I haven’t visited in a while, I’ve been pretty busy recently. By busy I mean conquering the Earth Kingdom.”

If Kazu was here right now, he would probably barely believe his ears. Because when he left, Izanami was all innocence. There was nothing to show that she would one day take down the last greatest stronghold in the Earth Kingdom.

“I know that’s probably a surprise to you, but that’s what I’ve been up to. I met this girl, who just so happens to be the Princess of the Fire Nation on one of our visits to Ember Island. It was the first summer after you left, actually. We only knew each other for a brief amount of time before we had to leave but then dad got transferred to the Royal Plaza and we knew each other on a personal basis after that. She’s the only person apart from you that I’ve called a best friend. She probably knows me better than I know myself, which is kind of scary. But at the same time it is nice to have someone who understands me, since mom and dad don’t seem to do that anymore,” Izanami vented.

This was probably the first time that Izanami was being truthfully honest about her relationship with her parents and of course it had to be to her dead brothers tombstone. Although Izanami loved her parents and knew that they cared about her, it had been a long time since they actually felt like a _family_ rather than people just living in the same house.

“I wish that you were still alive, Kazu. Maybe then our family wouldn’t be as depressing as it is. Then again, our family could be worse. It could be as bad as the Royal Family. Now that is one messed up family. Speaking of family, I should probably head off to visit my own and if I’m going to be honest, I’m nervous about doing that. But it’s something I have to face and I’ll face it with the same courage that you had while fighting for our country. I still miss you, and I promise that I’ll try and come visit soon,” Izanami finished.

After that, Izanami had a few moments of silence to herself out of respect for her brother. There were a few tears that slipped down her face, but Izanami quickly brushed them away as she maintained her strong front. She couldn’t be weak for Kazu now when she had to be strong for him. Taking one last look at her brothers tombstone, Izanami read the words engraved on the piece of plague that would forever hold her brothers memory.

_Here lies Lieutenant Kazu_

_76 AG – 100 AG_

_Brave soldier, beloved brother and son_

_May he rest in peace_

“Rest in peace, big brother. I will always love you and cherish the memories that we have,” Izanami whispered before turning her feet and walking away.

Visiting her brothers grave actually lifted something off of Izanami’s shoulders that she didn’t even know was there. That was the first time she had let some of her grief out, and she found that it had made herself feel a lot better than she had before. With a small smile, Izanami slowly made her way out of the cemetery feeling better than she had in ages.

It was that visit that had given Izanami the last bit of courage she needed to visit her parents and hopefully mend their relationship. That was the least she could do for her brother, since he wouldn’t want to be part of the reason why their relationship fell apart. She owed him that much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a different turn than I expected, mostly since the part where Izanami visited her brother didn’t even exist in my planning. I was going to put the rest of what I had planned before I realised that it would take too long and that it was best to just give you guys this, since you at least deserve something for waiting this long. As for my other fics, I’m gonna try and get them posted this week which should be manageable since I have half of the next chapter written for Blinding Horizon.


	23. Facing the Music

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I am with another update that isn’t a month after the last one so yay for me being on time. But updates might get rocky again since my assessment is starting to swarm up and I’ve gotta keep that as my priority as much as I don’t want to. Anyways, this chapter takes place directly after the last one and I hope you guys enjoy it.

Standing in front of her parents door, Izanami nervously fiddled with her hands as she tried gathering the courage to knock. Admittedly, she’d been standing there for almost ten minutes as she tried thinking of the right way to handle this situation. Luckily for Izanami, her parents house was pretty closed off so they wouldn’t know that she was there until she knocked which gave her as much time as she needed

There was no doubt that her parents would have a few choice words with her for disobeying their orders. But Izanami could deal with their judgement, since it had been worth it to leave them behind and help put some of her grief to rest. Knowing that she would eventually have to face the music, Izanami gathered all of her courage and lifted her hand against the door to alert her parents of her presence.

Footsteps were head and for a brief moment, Izanami considered making a break for it before deciding to keep her feet firmly planted where they were. It didn’t take long for the door to open before Izanami heard a slight gasp from the opener. Looking up, Izanami gazed into the eyes of her mother who looked noticeably shocked at her sudden appearance.

“Izanami! What do you think you’re doing here!” Hikari exclaimed, shocked at her daughters unexpected arrival.

“I came to see you, mother. Is father home?” Izanami asked nervously, glancing past her mothers shoulder to see if she could spot her father.

“He will be with us shortly. As for you, young lady, get yourself inside _right now_ ,” Hikari growled.

Sighing, Izanami allowed her mother to pull her inside and prepared herself for the lecture that she was about to get. If she was being honest, Izanami would much rather deal with her mother than her father since her father was always the stricter of the two. Of course, that didn’t mean that her mother just let her get away with everything since that was far from the case. Her mother just wasn’t as harsh as her father was.

Much to Izanami’s surprise, her mother just sat her down at the table while ignoring any contact with her as they waited for her father to arrive home. That took ages since her father was busy with some meeting, but when he did finally arrive home, he sent one quick glare Izanami’s way which was enough for her to know just how angry he was with her. After that, he took her mother away for a few minutes as they discussed what Izanami assumed to be her punishment before they returned again, sitting directly in front of her where she could see them.

A tense silence filled the air that you could’ve cut with a knife. It was that silence that made Izanami realise just how mad her parents were at her. Because when it came to their anger, them yelling at her was only a mild form of punishment. Only when they refused to speak to her or acknowledge her was when they were truly enraged with her, and Izanami hated that.

“Are we going to go through this routine again?” Izanami asked, not wanting to deal with her parents like this.

“You are going to tell me what you were thinking when you left us without a word!” Masaru exclaimed.

Izanami winced, “I left a letter.”

Masaru rolled his eyes, “Oh, yes. A lovely way to let your parents know that you’re leaving them in their time of grieving!”

“If I had told you that I was going to leave there was no way that you would’ve let me leave,” Izanami defended herself.

“Because your place is here! With your family that you abandoned! We had already lost a son. Did you want us to loose you too when you so foolishly left us without a word?” Masaru berated his daughter.

“You might think that my place is here, but my place is wherever I decide it is,” Izanami insisted, trying her best to seem confident in her words but failing miserably.

“And where is that?” Hikari pressed.

“Wherever I want it to be and at the time, here wasn’t where I wanted to be,” Izanami replied.

“And you think that you have the power to make that decision? Because you are wrong! We are your parents and we decide where you are supposed to be. And out of all the places, that was not galloping across the Earth Kingdom with that bigoted princess!” Masaru exclaimed.

Izanami raised to her feet, “Azula is _not_ a bigoted princess. She is my best friend and has treated me far better than you have in the past few months! You seem to be forgetting that I just conquered the Earth Kingdom, the last greatest stronghold fighting against the Fire Nation! And you’re treating me like a broke curfew!”

“You mean you _helped_ conquer the Earth Kingdom. I’m sure that Princess Azula would’ve managed just fine without you. Your presence was not necessary there, whereas it was necessary here, with your family. Doing your job as our only remaining daughter to protect our family’s already dying legacy!” Masaru shouted.

“Oh, I see what this is about,” Izanami stated as the realisation dawned on her. “This isn’t about me or who I hang out with, this is about you and your family’s old-fashioned beliefs about maintaining a strong bloodline. You want me to be what Kazu was; your golden child. You never once cared about me or what I did with my life up until Kazu got serious with his time in the war. Only now that I’m your last remaining child you want me to live up to your expectations so that you can have a bloodline that only so many people care about.”

“Including the Royal Family,” Hikari interjected. “While little is known about the late Lady Ursa’s background, what is known is that she comes from a powerful bloodline and was sought out to marry Prince Ozai just because of that. And the results speak for themselves with how Princess Azula turned out.”

Izanami narrowed her eyes, “Azula’s possible heritage has nothing to do with the type of bender that she is. She is the most focused and determined person that I have ever met. And _that_ is why she turned out how she did.”

“You speak so highly of that _Princess_ when I doubt that she would give you the same thoughts,” Masaru scoffed.

“Are you sure about that, Admiral Masaru?” a new voice interrupted.

Shocked at the sudden intrusion, Izanami turned her head to see _Azula_ of all people standing at the door of her house. Her parents immediately cowered at the sight of Azula, and Izanami couldn’t help but shake her head at the effect that Azula, a fourteen-year-old girl had on her parents who were grown adults.

“P-Princess Azula. I a-apologise for that. I w-wasn’t aware t-that you were c-coming,” Masaru stuttered as he and Hikari bowed for the princess.

Azula smirked, “And that’s how I like it.”

“I-is there a-anything we can do for you?” Hikari asked nervously.

“Yes, actually. You can start by respecting your daughter more. Any other parents would be proud of her for doing what she did, yet you berate her for doing so because it does not coincide with what you wanted her to do?” Azula replied.

Masaru gulped, “I apologise, Princess. But you have to understand that Izanami is our daughter first which overrides your priority to her.”

“And I am her Princess which makes me more prioritised than the two of you. Is that clear?” Azula drawled.

“Yes, Princess,” Masaru conceded.

“Good,” Azula smirked.

“Not that your presence isn’t welcome, but what are you doing here, Azula?” Izanami questioned, since Azula hadn’t prearranged a visit and Izanami certainly wasn’t expecting to see her friend anytime soon.

“I just came here to give you this in person,” Azula answered as she handed Izanami a sealed envelope.

“What’s this for?” Izanami wondered.

“An invitation to our welcoming gala tomorrow night,” Azula replied.

“I wasn’t aware that I needed an invitation,” Izanami commented.

Azula chuckled, “Yes, well, after the _incident_ that happened the last time you showed up without an invitation, father would much rather not have to deal with that hassle again.”

The memory Azula was referring to was a few years ago for Azula’s eleventh birthday when Izanami didn’t get an invitation because Azula didn’t think she needed one. Only it turned out that Izanami did need an invitation because the guards refused to let her in which in turn caused a great scene at the front that disrupted the evening as it was.

“Yes, we wouldn’t want something like that happening again,” Izanami agreed.

“Of course, your parents are welcome to attend,” Azula said stiffly, as though she was fighting to get the words out.

“We will be there,” Izanami assured her.

Azula showed one of her rare smiles, “Good. I hope to see you there.”

Only once Azula shut the door and after a few seconds had passed from her departure did her parents regain their composure. As always, Izanami stifled back a laugh at the sight of her parents in such disarray all because of a fourteen-year-old girl. Then again, Azula wasn’t like any other girl her age.

Masaru glared at his daughter, “You are one lucky girl, young lady.”

“Luck can come in very handy,” Izanami said sneakily.

“Watch your tone, young lady. You’re not off the hook just yet. Now that your escapades with the Princess are over, I see no need for you to spend all of your time with her and it is time for you to live up to your duties as our daughter,” Masaru proclaimed.

“And what does that mean?” Izanami asked.

“You will find out soon, my dear. Your father and I will make the appropriate arrangements,” Hikari replied ominously.

Frowning at her parents words, Izanami stood there wondering what they could’ve meant since it felt as though they were speaking in riddles. But Izanami figured that she’d find out in due time and that for now she’d focus on getting ready for the gala tomorrow.

~*•°•*~

Soon enough, the time of the gala arrived and Izanami found herself being escorted to the Royal Palace along with her parents and their invitation in hand. After Azula’s visit, Izanami’s parents didn’t continue their scolding but that didn’t mean that they’d let her off just like that. Of course her parents were going to play the proud role tonight for the sake of appearances before resuming their previous behaviour once they arrived home.

Izanami flashed her invitation at the guards, especially at the one who she remembered made the fuss over her trying to get in a few years ago, as they were allowed inside along with the rest of the guests. Leading the way, Izanami guided her parents through the palace grounds as they had only ever visited once or twice while Izanami had been there more times than she could remember.

“So, where is this ‘gala’ actually taking place?” Masaru asked as his daughter lead him around.

“In the great hall, which is not too far from where we are now,” Izanami replied.

“Of course you would know that, considering how much time you waste at this place,” Masaru muttered.

“Masaru,” Hikari hissed, not wanting their image to be tarnished by her husbands foolish behaviour. Their bitterness with their daughter could wait since right now, they had to play the act as the doting parents that everyone saw them as.

Eventually, Izanami lead her parents to the great hall where the main event was taking place. As soon as they entered, her parents were quick to discard her as they headed off to their other associates, leaving Izanami to herself. This wasn’t something that Izanami wasn’t used to, since her parents were always more than happy to leave her by herself on special occasions.

Gazing around, Izanami could see that Ozai had truly gone all-out for this celebration which was to be expected since it was celebrating the conquering of their enemies. After checking out the area, Izanami looked around in the hopes of spotting her friends nearby, but there was no sign of the nobility in sight. Given their status, they were probably off talking to the high officials somewhere which made Izanami decide to search for them later.

Out of the corner of her eye, Izanami spotted one of the servants heading towards her. While Izanami often got served by them under Azula’s orders, it was still uncomfortable for Izanami to be waited on by other people.

“Miss Izanami, there you are! Princess Azula has requested your presence in her chambers as soon as you arrived,” the servant addressed her.

Nodding, Izanami headed off to where she was expected to be without taking the servants help since Izanami certainly knew her way around the palace by now. After all, Izanami had been visiting this place for almost five years now. She could probably give a tour guide because of all the time she’s spent here. That being said, Izanami knew almost every secret passageway thanks to her explorations with Azula when they were younger. Those were always her fondest memories of their friendship.

Luckily, Azula’s chambers weren’t too far from the great hall so it didn’t take Izanami that long to find her friend. When Izanami entered, she could see that Azula was having the final touches put on her outfit, which was certainly the most sophisticated that Izanami had ever seen her friend. Though if she was being honest, Izanami was glad to see a different sort of dress on Azula after seeing her in the same thing for the past few months.

“Princess, Miss Izanami is here to see you,” one of the servants acknowledged her.

“Good. I was wondering when you were going to show up, Izana,” Azula greeted her.

“Just got here a few minutes ago,” Izanami replied. “Why is it that you wanted me here?”

“Because I want you, Mai, Ty Lee and Zuko to be by my side when we’re introduced to the crowd. After all, it’s what you deserve for the role you played in the conquering of that city,” Azula answered.

“Speaking of Zuko, how has he been?” Izanami asked, since she had been wondering how her friends brother was adjusting to being home again.

“Not so fine after seeing father last night. He showed up in my room in the latest hours of the night asking all sorts of questions about why I did what I did when I should’ve been resting for this,” Azula replied.

Izanami narrowed her eyes, “Questions about what?”

Azula smirked in a way that Izanami knew was a tell-tale sign that Azula was up to something, “Nothing that can be discussed here. But you’ll find out soon enough.”

Rolling her eyes at Azula’s always riddled words, Izanami sat back and waited for her friend to finish getting ready. In that time, Izanami wondered what Azula could’ve possibly been referring to in regards to Zuko. But like her friend said, Izanami figured that she’d find out in due time.

Not long after that, Azula had gotten finished with the final touches of her outfit and Izanami couldn’t help but admire the beautiful dress that her friend was in. It was something that Izanami could never afford, but something she could still imagine herself in. There had always been something about noble clothing that Izanami admired.

“Alright, Izanami. Let’s get this show on the road as they say. Our party awaits us,” Azula declared.

Ready to get into the swing of things, Izanami readily followed Azula out of her chambers since she was eager to get this night underway. Mainly because Izanami could use some fun after having to deal with her parents the last two days. To Izanami’s surprise, Ty Lee was waiting just around the corner along with Mai and Zuko who both had their arms wrapped around each other. Despite always knowing that Mai and Zuko would have some sort of future together, it was still weird for Izanami to see them being so… affectionate since they were usually anything but that.

“Let’s not keep everyone else waiting long enough, it’s time to make our entrance,” Azula said before leading the way.

After listening to their instructions, Izanami waited behind the curtains with the others since they could only make their presence known once their name was called out. For once, their time and effort was being acknowledged and Izanami had to admit that it was a good feeling, since she was so used to just being discarded as Azula’s friend when she was so much more than that.

Beside her, Izanami could see that Azula had gone off to have a word with her father who would be following them down the staircase as they made their entry. For a moment Izanami experienced a brief freak out at the thought of being in front of so many people, since that was hardly ever where she found herself with Azula. But this was what Izanami had been longing for, and she wasn’t going to mess it up.

There was a sudden quietness from the other side of the curtains and Izanami assumed that it was time for them to be announced. Sucking her breath, Izanami stood firmly as she waited for her name to be called.

“It is with the greatest honour that we present to you our heroes from Ba Sing Se. Our great Princess Azula who conquered the Earth Kingdom along with her esteemed friends, Lady Ty Lee of Caldera City and Lady Izanami of Caldera City. Following them is Prince Zuko who slayed the Avatar accompanied with Lady Mai of Omashu,” Lo and Li announced.

Widening her eyes at their declaration in regards to Zuko, Izanami turned to Azula who wore a smirk on her face. That surprised Izanami, since she would’ve expected Azula to take all of the credit for what was her doing instead of passing it onto her brother. Figuring that that was probably what Azula was referring to before, Izanami just kept her focus on walking down the stairs since she didn’t want to make a fool out of herself with her first official public appearance.

“And finally, our esteemed Fire Lord Ozai!” Lo and Li finished their announcements and Ozai followed them down the stairs.

Once the introductions had passed, Izanami was seated with Azula at the main table alongside Mai and Ty Lee. Of course, her parents had made sure to get themselves their own seats there as well but they had been seated with the other generals and ministers, much to Izanami’s relief since the last thing she wanted was to deal with her parents drama tonight.

“Enjoying the night?” Azula asked beside her.

Izanami nodded, “So far, so good.”

“Even though it was quickly arranged, father spared no expense to make it a wonderful evening for everyone invited,” Azula stated.

“I can see that,” Izanami murmured.

Allowing her mind to wonder off, Izanami kept herself occupied with her own thoughts as the night got into full swing, not really wanting to get too involved with anything. Izanami was more than happy to just sit back and let the night run its course, since she had at least gotten the declaration that she had always wanted.

~*•°•*~

At some point during the night, Izanami wondered off to the balcony to have some time away from the party. It was starting to get too much for her and constantly being surrounded by old generals who were far too pushy for her liking wasn’t really Izanami’s thing. It made her wonder how Azula dealt with it, but then again, she had been dealing with this sort of thing her entire life.

“It’s a wonderful night, isn’t it?” a voice said from behind her.

Turning around, Izanami saw a guy about roughly her age standing there. He wasn’t anyone that she had seen before, so Izanami had no idea who he was. But he seemed like he was a part of the Fire Nation military, based on the way that he was dressed.

“Yes,” Izanami sucked in a breath. “It is.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Izanami. It is a great honour to meet someone as esteemed as you are,” the man said as he lifted her hand to give it a kiss.

“Thank you,” Izanami blushed. “If you don’t mind me asking, what is your name? I have not seen you around before.”

“Of course, where are my manners? I am Natsumi of Fire Fountain City,” the man introduced himself.

Izanami’s eyes widened, recognising the name of her old hometown, “I actually used to live there before my father got transferred to the Royal Plaza.”

Natsumi smiled, “Small world.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been there. What’s it like now?” Izanami wondered, since she often wondered how much her old city had changed.

“It’s become a lot more industrial since Fire Lord Ozai came to power. Not to mention the gigantic statue of him in the centre of it,” Natsumi replied.

“Figures that he would do that,” Izanami murmured.

“I’d like to think that the muscles are a little bit exaggerated,” Natsumi commented.

Izanami chuckled, “They probably are, since Ozai likes to think he’s the greatest and strongest person alive.”

“You’ve known the Royal Family for a long time, haven’t you?” Natsumi checked.

“Yes. I moved here over four years ago and I’d already met Princess Azula prior to that so that helped establish our friendship,” Izanami revealed, although not wanting to give away too much about herself to someone she’d only just met.

“So, why aren’t you off celebrating your conquest with everyone else?” Natsumi questioned.

“As nice as it is to be acknowledged, Royal gatherings tend to get a bit tedious. I’ve certainly been to enough to know that by now,” Izanami answered.

“I’m the same. Big parties have never been my scene,” Natsumi agreed as he moved closer to Izanami. “Since we’re both tapped out for the night, why don’t we get to know each other?”

Izanami shrugged, “I’d have no problems with that.”

Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Izanami threw herself into a conversation with Natsumi that she found herself getting far too involved in. For someone she’d only just met, Natsumi was certainly fascinating in Izanami’s eyes since he’d already done so much in his short life, just like she had. Although there was something about him that she couldn’t quite point out, Izanami simply pushed those thoughts aside and allowed herself to become invested in his life, since she could surely use a friend now that she was back for good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, that chapter turned out longer than I thought it would. It brings a few changes to the story with Natsumi, who will now be a regular character and you’ll see why in the next chapter. Until then, leave me with your thoughts in the reviews and I’ll try to come back with another chapter next week.
> 
> Natsumi is a Japanese name with ‘Natsu’ meaning summer and ‘mi’ meaning beautiful.


	24. Adjustments to be Made

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s another chapter to satisfy your needs and to make up for those weeks I skipped out on you guys. This chapter takes place during the Headband and I hope you guys enjoy it :).

Following the welcoming gala, Izanami began adjusting to finally being at home for good. After meeting Natsumi there, he had continued to press Izanami to spend more time with him, which she was reluctant to do so since Izanami was already busy enough as she was. Of course, her parents were still nagging her about taking responsibility as their only living child and stepping up to what was expected of her.

Being back at home was almost not what Izanami had expected it to be. Sure, she had expected her parents to be angry at her – which they were – but she hadn’t expected them to expect so much from her. It was almost as if they understood nothing about how Izanami was feeling, which made her more frustrated at the situation that she was dealt with. There was almost a part of her that wished they were still chasing the Avatar, since at least then she wouldn’t have to deal with her parents nagging.

Since Izanami was now her parents only living offspring, they were currently in the process of transferring all of Kazu’s benefits to her. It was almost not even surprising that her parents had left Kazu practically everything of importance but since he was no longer alive, it left Izanami with everything that had been previously written in Kazu’s name. That was what they were doing now, since her parents had reluctantly decided to give Izanami what used to be Kazu’s inheritance.

“Alright, I have made the final draft of your will which leaves everything in your name in the hands of Izanami for when the time comes,” Hitoshi, her parents settlor, stated.

“Are you sure that this is what we should be doing?” Hikari asked nervously.

“We have to leave her behind something, dear,” Masaru replied.

“But then she won’t ever have to push herself to achieve great things since all of our belongings will be left in her name. I don’t want my daughter to live off of our death,” Hikari argued.

Izanami rolled her eyes, “Mother, I won’t be needing anything from your will. I can provide for myself just fine without your help.”

“Yes, because you’ll just leach off of that Princess since she will have no problem in supporting you with our loss,” Masaru snapped.

“That ‘Princess’ has a name and she’s my _friend_ ,” Izanami drawled.

“Yes, dear. We know your relationship with the Princess is close. But I do not want you to rely on her luxuries with our death,” Hikari reasoned.

“You say that like you’re about to die,” Izanami commented.

“Nonsense,” Masaru scoffed. “Your mother and I are in perfect health. But in the off chance that something unexpected is to happen to us, we want you to at least be able to support yourself to some degree.”

“And here was me thinking that you didn’t care about me,” Izanami muttered.

“There are also many items of value in our will that are family heirlooms from both your mother and I. That is what you will mainly be left with so don’t go thinking that we’re leaving you everything,” Masaru said.

“Perhaps we should put a limit as to when she should be able to access our belongings so that she can’t pawn them or do anything that would ruin their value,” Hikari suggested.

Izanami sighed, “Mother, I do not care about your ‘priceless family artefacts.’ If you leave them in your will, the chances are I’m probably not even going to use them because they’re _useless_.”

Hikari gasped, “Izanami! Contrary to what you might think those are not useless objects that you can just forget about! Some of them are true artefacts that have been passed down to your father and I for generations!”

“Because you seem to have very little respect for what your mother and I are willing to give you, perhaps it would be better for us to put a limit onto when you can access those items,” Masaru agreed.

Hitoshi sighed as he rubbed his fingers against his head, “But that would require making another document.”

“That is your job, isn’t it?” Masaru mocked him. “On your redraft, make it so that she has no access to our belongings until she turns twenty-five. Any money that we have left over will be transferred to one of her cousins who actually earn it.”

“Is that all for today?” Hitoshi grumbled as he made his final notes.

Hikari nodded, “Yes, I believe it is. Come on, Izanami. It is time for us to head home.”

“I’m really sorry about that,” Izanami apologised to Hitoshi as she trailed behind her parents.

Upon leaving Hitoshi’s office, Izanami let out a frustrated sigh as her parents lead the way home. This whole process was becoming a lot more tedious than Izanami thought it would be and it made her wish that Kazu was still alive even more. Although as much as she would say that her parents will didn’t bother her, it still upset her to some degree that they would be willing to give it to one of her cousins over her.

Despite her extended family not being that big, Izanami still had a few other cousins and relatives that her parents valued more than her. On her mothers side, she only had one aunt and uncle since her mother only had one sister. While her father had an older brother and a younger sister, who was Izanami’s favourite relative. It had been a long time since Izanami saw her other family members, since they didn’t even show up to Kazu’s funeral. But as her parents only living child, Izanami still felt as though she deserved all of their leftover belongings, even if she didn’t want them.

“Alright, Izanami. We’re going to give you the rest of the day to yourself. But be back at home by sundown because we have something important to discuss with you,” Masaru stated.

“Why can’t we discuss it now?” Izanami asked.

“Because now is not the right time. Now do as your father says and enjoy the rest of the day,” Hikari ushered her daughter away.

Knowing that there was no use arguing or questioning her parents motives, Izanami took their orders and decided to head into town to hopefully catch some time with Azula. The last time that Izanami had seen Azula was during the Gala, which was five days ago and Izanami could use some time with her best friend given her current circumstances.

Although Izanami couldn’t help but wonder what her parents would have to discuss with her, since as far as she was aware they had covered everything that she expected them to cover. But obviously not since there was still something worth mentioning to her. Whatever it was, it had to be important since her parents only ever shooed her away when it was something important.

~*•°•*~

When arriving in Caldera City, Izanami immediately noticed how festive everything was. Although Izanami lived close enough to the main city, she and her family actually resided on one of the smaller villages near the volcano. It always confused Izanami why these people would want to live in a volcano, even if it hadn’t erupted in years.

For a moment Izanami forgot what was making everyone so celebratory before she remembered that the war was now over. Or as over as it could be. Even though the Fire Nation had secured a strong victory over the Earth Kingdom, Izanami knew that there would still be resistance from the other nations to just bow down and accept the Fire Nation’s dominance.

Along the way, Izanami received her fair share of congratulations for her part in the victory at Ba Sing Se. But any congratulations was met with reluctance as Izanami still felt as though she had morally done the wrong thing. As much as Izanami tried to justify her actions as being Azula’s friend, there was that persistent part of her that kept on saying that what she had done wasn’t right.

“If it isn’t our local hero,” Kunio, the owner of Izanami’s favourite shop acknowledged her as she passed by.

Izanami forced a smile, “Hey, Kunio.”

“Off to visit the Royals?” Kunio asked.

“Yeah, I am,” Izanami replied.

“It amazes me how someone like you could be so respected by someone like Princess Azula,” Kunio commented.

Izanami sighed, “Well, Azula and I have our differences. But she is the best friend that I’ve ever had and I value her friendship above everything else.”

“If I were you, I’d hold onto that bond. Because you never know when your friendships might come in handy,” Kunio advised her.

“I don’t plan on breaking that friendship anytime soon,” Izanami assured him, since it was true. After everything that they had done together, Izanami could never just turn her back on Azula like their friendship meant nothing because it didn’t. Their friendship was everything to Izanami.

“Well, enjoy your time. But be careful, you could get swarmed by some of the other townspeople. You’ve sort of become a celebrity after recent events,” Kunio warned.

Izanami nodded, “Thanks for the heads up.”

Sighing, Izanami made her way through the town and sure enough, she was swarmed by the people who recognised her as Princess Azula’s esteemed friend. It was definitely overwhelming for Izanami since before today, nobody had ever really cared about her, regardless of the fact that she was Princess Azula’s friend.

There were some people who Izanami didn’t even know who were suddenly acting like they knew her. Everybody basically did the same thing, thanking her for helping winning the war for them which only added more to the guilt that Izanami felt about her part in recent events. Anybody else would’ve taken that praise with honour, but Izanami felt like it was anything but that.

At some point, Izanami found herself surrounded by a group of strangers as they crowded around her, all asking questions that were similar to ‘What is it like being Azula’s friend’ or ‘How hard was it taking down the Avatar’ and the most notable one ‘What does it feel like to be a hero?’

But somebody seemed to notice Izanami’s trouble as they came to her rescue shouting, “Alright everyone, give the girl some space.”

It took a lot of shoving and persuading to get the crowd to leave Izanami alone, which she was pretty thankful for. The last thing that Izanami wanted to deal with was crazed people wanting to know everything about her personal life. But to Izanami’s surprise the person who had came to her rescue was none other than Natsumi.

“Um, hi. Thanks for that,” Izanami murmured awkwardly.

“It’s no problem. I could see that you were uncomfortable in that situation. Nobody should feel like that in public,” Natsumi reassured her.

Izanami smiled, “Thank you, Natsumi. I appreciate it.”

“I don’t suppose that you’re here to hopefully run into me by any chance?” Natsumi aske cheekily.

Izanami giggled, “No, actually. I’m here to see Princess Azula.”

Natsumi nodded, “Of course. Who was I to think otherwise? How about I walk you to the palace, in case you deal with anymore crowds like that?”

“Thank you, that would be nice,” Izanami accepted his offer.

Together, Izanami headed towards the Royal Palace with Natsumi in tow. For the most part, they walked slowly in sync as Izanami found herself getting rather attached to Natsumi. Although she wasn’t sure what it was, there was just something about him that spoke to Izanami in a weird way. It was almost as if she had known him her whole life even though she knew she hadn’t.

While Izanami did let off some of the steam that she’d been holding up inside, Izanami didn’t tell Natsumi absolutely everything about how she felt since she had only just met him and wasn’t so sure if she could completely trust him. But based on the vibes that she was getting from him already, Izanami felt like she could trust him in time.

“I guess this is where I let you go,” Natsumi said once they reached the palace gates.

Izanami nodded, “I guess it is. But if we ever bump into each other again, maybe we should talk some more?”

“That would be nice. I’d like to get to know you better,” Natsumi agreed.

Saying her final goodbyes to Natsumi, Izanami entered the palace gates as an escort showed her to where Azula would be meeting with her. Along the way, Izanami caught the sight of Mai and Zuko acting rather coupley with one another, which made her smile. Despite being somewhat weirded out by their affection, she could see that they made each other happy and was happy for them.

When Izanami was taken to the appropriate room, she waited patiently on her own for Azula’s arrival. Knowing that she didn’t have much time with her friend since her parents expected her to be back home by sundown, Izanami wanted Azula to quickly make time for her so that they could keep up to date. Izanami would hate for their friendship to come to a halt just after they’d returned home.

“There is my visitor,” Azula stated as she entered the room.

“Hey, Zula,” Izanami smiled as she went to hug her friend.

“It feels like it’s been ages since we last sat down and had a talk even though its only been a few days,” Azula commented.

Izanami laughed, “I feel that too. But I don’t have long since my parents expect me to be back at home by sundown since they have something important to tell me.”

“Any idea what it could be?” Azula asked curiously.

Izanami shrugged, “I have no idea. We’ve already been up since the morning as they tried sorting out their will for me.”

“How did that go?” Azula inquired.

“It took forever. My parents couldn’t agree on what they wanted me to have since they didn’t want me to not have to lift a finger with their inheritance. They say that like we’re loaded with money when we’re not. Unless of course they’ve got some secret stash that I have no idea about. All they have are ‘priceless’ nick-knacks that hardly seem valuable in my eyes,” Izanami ranted.

“Your parents never cease to amaze me. It baffles me how they can treat you like they do when you’re their last living child,” Azula commented.

“My thoughts exactly. But because I’m just a daughter and not their son, I don’t really have any value for them since I can’t go off in the battle field like every other man is expected,” Izanami complained.

“They seem to be forgetting that you just helped conquer the last great stronghold fighting against the Fire Nation. If they have any expectations after that, your parents truly are unsatisfiable,” Azula said.

Izanami scoffed, “I’ve known that for years, Az. They don’t value me like they valued Kazu. They even said that they might just give whatever money they have left over to one of my other cousins because they want me to earn my income.”

“Your parents really are something,” Azula shook her head.

“Tell me about it. Anyways, enough about me. What have you been up to since the Gala?” Izanami wondered.

“Mostly what I was doing before except now I have to keep an eye on Zuzu. He’s been up to some things recently that makes me question where he truly stands with me,” Azula admitted.

Izanami raised her eyebrows, “Like what?”

“He’s been to the Capital City prison to visit our Uncle Fatso. While I’m sure that the visits are harmless, I do worry that my treacherous uncle will try getting into Zuko’s head and turn him against us. If he does that, I’ll be in some serious trouble,” Azula explained.

“What do you mean?” Izanami questioned.

“I told father and everyone else that it was Zuzu who defeated the Avatar when you and I both know that’s not the truth. Only you, me and the Dai Li agents know what happened down in the Crystal Catacombs and I want it to stay that way. If by some miracle the Avatar survived, then Zuzu could easily pin the blame on me which would not make father happy,” Azula revealed.

“You didn’t even tell Mai and Ty Lee?” Izanami inquired since it was usually unlike Azula to withhold any information like that from their other friends.

Azula nodded, “Yes, I didn’t. Telling Mai that it was Zuko who got the job done was more than enough to get her to fall into his arms again. And you and I both know about how Ty Lee is at keeping secrets.”

“The girl can’t keep one to save her life,” Izanami commented.

“Exactly. And since you are the only person that I truly trust, I expect you to keep that information to yourself,” Azula said.

“You can count on me, Azula,” Izanami smiled.

It was times like this when Azula put her whole trust into Izanami that truly showed her how much Azula really valued their friendship. Sometimes Izanami doubted what she meant to her friend given her status, but for Azula to tell Izanami that she trusted her with information like this meant the world to Izanami. Simply because it was hard for the younger girl to give people her trust and having Azula’s trust meant more to Izanami than anything so she didn’t plan on breaking it anytime soon.

They spent the rest of their time together catching up and planning more time together, since now that they were both busy with their individual lives any time that they had together was most likely going to be rare. But it was that time that made Izanami know for sure that her friendship with Azula wasn’t just going to fizzle away in time. Their friendship was something that would always be important to Izanami, and she knew that Azula felt the same too.

~*•°•*~

Before sundown arrived, Izanami left the Royal Palace and headed towards her home. Azula had made sure that they got as much time together as possible, so she gave Izanami an escort to make her trip quicker than it would be by foot. The two had made plans to see each other on a regular basis at least once a week, since there was only so much time to permit.

When she arrived at her home, Izanami thanked her escort and headed towards her house. Something immediately caught her attention though, since Izanami realised that her parents weren’t alone as there was a carriage that didn’t belong to them waiting outside. Unsure of what to do, Izanami knocked on the door since she didn’t want to interrupt anything that she shouldn’t.

“Ah, Izanami. It’s good to see you at home and before your deadline,” Masaru greeted her when he opened the door.

“Princess Azula gave me an escort,” Izanami said as she followed her father inside.

“Your mother and I are in the middle of some important negotiations so if you could just wait out here we will be with you shortly,” Masaru assured her.

Knowing that she was in no position to do anything else, Izanami nodded along and took a seat as she waited for her parents to finish whatever it is that they were in the middle of. Looking around, Izanami could see that her parents had set up a nice dinner for them with the addition of three extra seats, which gave Izanami the impression that they were having visitors.

After some time, her parents came into the room with two other people who Izanami recognised her parents talking to at the Gala. They seemed to be getting awfully chummy with one another as they entered the room so whatever they were talking about had to have been good. It only made Izanami want to know what was going on even more.

“Izanami, there you are!” the other woman exclaimed. “It is so good to finally meet you.”

“Uh, you too…” Izanami trailed off nervously.

“Your parents have told us great things about you,” the man added.

Izanami raised her eyes, “They have?”

“Of course we have! It is only fitting that they know just what you have done and how special you are!” her mother praised her in a way that she hadn’t done in ages.

“Why don’t we all sit down and wait for our extra guest to arrive?” Masaru suggested.

“That sounds like a great idea for us to bond like this!” the other woman exclaimed.

“Um, I don’t even know who you people are,” Izanami pointed out.

“Oh, where are our manners? I am General Satoshi and this is my beautiful wife, Suzume,” the man introduced themselves.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Izanami said as she shook their hands.

“Now that we all know each other, lets sit down and wait for our last arrival,” Hikari suggested.

Glancing around, Izanami wondered what on earth was going on here. It was rare for her parents to invite people over to their house, since it usually worked the other way. At the same time, Izanami wondered who was it that they were waiting for. Deciding to find out what exactly was going on, Izanami spoke up.

“Can I ask what this is about?” Izanami asked.

“You already did, sweetheart but we’ll tell you anyways,” Hikari replied in a way that Izanami wasn’t used to.

“Since you’ve come back, your mother and I have been thinking about ways to better your future. After this morning we realised that you do not need a will or inheritance. What you need is someone to support you so you can achieve great things,” Masaru explained.

“Where is this going?” Izanami questioned.

“Your father and I decided to take some extra few precautions to ensure that you have a future and someone to look after you when we can’t. So after much consideration along with Satoshi and Suzume we have agreed upon a Miai for you,” Hikari finished.

Izanami’s eyes widened as she realised what that word meant, “An arranged marriage?”

“Yes, an arranged marriage. A union like that between our two families would strengthen your future and ensure that you have someone to support you and to create a family of our own to strengthen our legacy,” Masaru said.

“So you’ve just _agreed_ on something like this without even _asking_ me?” Izanami asked, even though she wasn’t surprised.

“My dear, the choice is not up to you. It is something that we have all decided on and would appreciate your cooperation,” Hikari reasoned.

“It’s not fair though! You can’t just expect me to marry somebody when I’ve only just met them!” Izanami exclaimed.

“You’ve already met our son, actually. And he is a promising Lieutenant with a strong future ahead of him that would unsure yours,” Suzume said.

“I have?” Izanami asked bewilderedly, having no idea who Suzume was referring to.

There was suddenly a knock on the door that caught everyone’s attention. Izanami assumed that it had to be her potential suitor so her eyes immediately glued to the door to see who it was.

“That must be him now!” Satoshi exclaimed.

He and his wife then got up to open the door and greeted their son, who Izanami couldn’t quite see because his face was blocked. But when the parents separated from their hug and she got clear look at his face, Izanami knew exactly who it was.

“Natsumi!?” Izanami shrieked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I did that. I know that some of you guys are kinda rooting for an Azula/Izanami relationship but you’ll just have to wait and see how this all turns out because I have plenty of plans for these two from here on out. And I said last chapter that Natsumi would be an important part of the story so now you guys know why.
> 
> Hitoshi is a Japanese name meaning even-tempered, Kunio is a Japanese name meaning countryman, Satoshi is a Japanese name meaning quick-witted and Suzume is a Japanese name meaning sparrow. The word Miai is an actual Japanese word that basically means arranged marriage.


	25. Unplanned Destiny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just because they’re back at the Fire Nation, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t gonna be any drama for Azula and Izanami. In fact, the drama is probably going to heat up even more now that they’re back. This chapter takes place directly after the last one before venturing off into the time period of the Painted Lady.

Sitting in her room with her door shut, Izanami couldn’t have been more angry with her parents than she was right now. Once Izanami had realised that they had organised an arranged marriage with Natsumi, she tried to argue against it but both sets of parents agreed that it was best for their families. With nobody to back her up, Izanami had excused herself for the night before locking herself up in her room.

While her initial shock at the situation had subsided, it was quickly replaced with anger at her parents for doing this to her. Anger at them for putting her in this situation without even asking how she felt about it. Granted, if they had come to talk to her about it Izanami would have without a doubt said no. Then again, that’s probably they didn’t tell her about this in the first place.

There was also apart of Izanami that was angry at Natsumi too. When he first came to her at the welcoming Gala, Izanami thought that he was being genuine with his intentions just like she thought he was genuinely offering her friendship. Only now Izanami realised that it was probably because he had already been made aware of the arrangement that had been made.

In that moment, there was nothing that Izanami wanted more than to be with Azula right now. If she was with Azula, Izanami knew her friend would be able to make her feel better. But Azula wasn’t here right now, and Izanami had to deal with this on her own. Never before had Izanami felt so many emotions swirling around inside of her, and she had no idea how to deal with them. If there was ever a time she could use a friends support, now would be it.

A knock on the door caught Izanami’s attention, and she didn’t feel like talking to whoever was there. Now was certainly not the time where Izanami felt like talking to anyone. But whoever it was didn’t stop there, as they knocked again. This time, they spoke.

“Izanami, it is me. I would like to speak with you.” It was Natsumi.

Sighing, Izanami crawled onto her feet and positioned herself so that she was somewhat presentable. Even though she had nothing to prove to Natsumi, Izanami still didn’t want to loose what little dignity she had. When Izanami opened the door, she wasn’t so sure what to make of Natsumi’s sudden appearance. Part of her just wanted him to leave her alone but considering their current arrangement, she figured that doing that would be hard.

“What do you want?” Izanami snapped.

Natsumi sighed, “Listen, Izanami. I know that our situation is less than ideal for both of us. But since this is happening regardless of what we think or want, I feel that it is best if we just take the opportunity for what it is.”

Izanami scoffed, “This isn’t an opportunity. An opportunity is what allows you to do something. This doesn’t allow me to do anything. In fact, it takes away everything that I had planned for myself. If anything, this is a punishment.”

“I could understand why you feel that way. But please do not make this any more difficult than it needs to be. Just give it some time, and I’m sure that we will eventually be able to come to an understanding,” Natsumi reasoned.

“I have already come to an understanding. And that is that this is not what I want. I do not want to be forced to marry somebody I barely know,” Izanami insisted.

“You will not be forced to do anything you don’t want to. There will be a choice,” Natsumi said.

Izanami raised her eyebrows, “What do you mean?”

“If you had stayed long enough to hear the conditions, you would know that we do not have to get married right away. Our parents have decided to give us a year to potentially get used to this idea. If in a years’ time your thoughts haven’t changed, then you don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to,” Natsumi explained.

“My thoughts on this matter will never change, Natsumi. And I hope that you realise that this is to buy them time, not us. This isn’t time for us to get to know each other before making a decision. This is the time for them to plan out our entire future for us,” Izanami snapped.

“If that’s how you really feel then I guess there is nothing I can do to change that,” Natsumi admitted.

“You’re right,” Izanami agreed with a nod. “My thoughts on this matter will never change and I hope that you realise we will never be able to have anything together. Any chance of any form of relationship that we could’ve had was blown away when you made your true intentions obvious.”

With that, Izanami turned around and slammed the door shut in Natsumi’s face. As she did so, a slight tear fell down Izanami’s face as the enormity of the situation dawned on her. Although Natsumi had said they would have a choice in a years’ time, Izanami knew that there would never really be a choice. When her parents set out to do something, they saw it through to the end which was what they were going to do with this. No matter what Izanami thought on the matter, she was going to marry Natsumi. It might not be now, but she was going to marry Natsumi whether she liked it or not.

~*•°•*~

In the days that passed following her parents announcement, Izanami refused to acknowledge them. While Izanami had been upset with her parents before, nothing compared to how she felt towards them about this situation. Izanami had hopes that they’d be able to work through their problems, but after what they had pulled with Natsumi, Izanami wasn’t sure if she would ever be able to look at her parents the same way again.

For the first time in her life, Izanami felt truly alone. Sure, she knew that Azula had her back but there was only so much that Azula could do for her. While Azula might have power as the Princess of the Fire Nation, she knew that Azula wouldn’t be able to stop her parents from doing this since they weren’t technically breaking any Fire Nation laws. The legal marrying age was sixteen, and Izanami knew that her parents wouldn’t force her to marry Natsumi until she turned sixteen.

Thinking of Azula suddenly reminded Izanami that she was supposed to see Azula again today and that was enough to snap Izanami out of her self-induced misery and get her out of the house. She did so without even acknowledging her parents or letting them know, since they certainly didn’t deserve that curtesy after they didn’t give her the same in regards to her arranged marriage.

The walk to the Fire Nation Palace was a sombre one for Izanami. There was so much on her mind and so many things that were just jumping around. One thing Izanami knew that she was going to do was tell Azula about her parents plans for her future. If there was anything that Izanami could count on Azula was for her to be the support that she needed.

Upon arriving at the Royal Palace, Izanami headed towards Azula’s room after being informed that her friend was there. The whole time Izanami was preparing herself for how she was going to break this news to Azula, since she had no idea how she was going to do that. But Izanami figured that she’d just say whatever felt right and entered the princesses room where she found her sitting at her dresser.

“Any time for me?” Izanami asked.

Azula turned around to face the other girl, “There’s always time for you. After all, that’s what this day is for.”

“True,” Izanami sighed.

Glancing at her friend, Azula immediately noticed that something wasn’t right with Izanami. On any day of the week, Azula was able to read her friend better than anybody else so she knew when something wasn’t right which it wasn’t right now.

“Alright, what’s wrong?” Azula asked.

“I’m getting married,” Izanami replied.

“What?” Azula sputtered, shocked.

“Wow, Az. I never thought I could make you speechless,” Izanami commented.

“Of course I am because of _this_ news. How could you possibly get married? Who could you be even getting married to?” Azula wondered.

“This guy I only met like a week ago,” Izanami answered.

Azula shook her head, “Your parents can’t do that. You’re not sixteen!”

Izanami rolled her eyes, “They’ve given me a year to get used to the situation so that I have time to process it when in reality it’s giving them time to plan out my entire future.”

“This is ridiculous. I’m going to go over to your house and give your so-called parents a piece of my mind!” Azula exclaimed as she rose to her feet.

Izanami put a calming hand on her friends shoulder, “While I appreciate the rage, it’s not necessary. My parents technically aren’t doing anything to break the law. They’re not gonna force me to get married until I turn sixteen.”

“Ugh, you’re right,” Azula grumbled. “But still, it’s ridiculous that they think they can do something like this to you! You should have a say in who and when you get married.”

“My parents obviously don’t think that way, since they’re so willing to marry me off before they even can. They’re saying that it’s to ensure my future and secure their bloodline but really, it’s probably just to punish me,” Izanami said.

“Your parents just continue to surprise me with their stupidity,” Azula shook her head.

“You and me both,” Izanami agreed. “Enough about my stupid parents and their stupid decisions. What’s been going on here?”

“Mai’s been coming over a lot lately since she and Zuzu are official. Father has been treating him with far more respect than he’s ever treated anyone before. It’s almost like Zuzu is some kind of hero in his eyes when _I’m_ the one who conquered Ba Sing Se. It could’ve easily been done without him,” Azula explained.

Izanami raised her eyes, “Maybe this is what you get for giving him all the credit.”

“But I do not like this at all. Father is supposed to shower _me_ with adoration. Not Zuzu. That’s how things have always been and I hate how they’re starting to change,” Azula admitted.

“Your father knows how amazing you are, Az. He knows that you were the true brains behind the operation. He’s probably just acknowledging Zuko because he has no choice to now that he’s home,” Izanami reasoned.

“I guess that’s one way to look at things. And you’re probably right too. Father has never once showed any kind of love for Zuko before and even now it’s not really love,” Azula stated.

“See? So things are still the same as they’ve always been,” Izanami said.

“Father has also been talking to me a lot about my future in the Fire Nation. He says that I’m going to continue to do great things for the Fire Nation - which I know I will – but he’s also saying that there is no point in having all of that success if I have nobody to share it with,” Azula continued.

“Of course you have someone to share it with. You have me,” Izanami stated.

Azula rolled her eyes, “Not that kind of someone, Izana. Apparently I’ve been getting a lot of notice from the other important generals and figures in the Fire Nation after my recent success. They’ve been propositioning me to join forces with their families to spread even more power.”

“Isn’t that good?” Izanami asked, knowing how important it was to maintain strong relations with other important figures in the country.

“No, it’s not. Because like your parents, my father has been saying that I need to secure my future as well as our bloodline. Nothing is ever set in stone in the Fire Nation and anything could happen at any time to ruin everything that we have,” Azula explained.

Izanami’s eyes widened at the implications of Azula’s words, “Wait, so your father wants you to marry someone too?”

“Obviously not right now since I can’t, but father has said that when my time comes I need to do my duty as the Fire Nation Princess to provide for our family,” Azula replied.

“What is it with parents and thinking that we need someone to support us and to secure our future? We’ve done just fine so far and I’m sure we will continue to do so without the support of anyone,” Izanami complained.

“The thing is, Izana, is that this is my duty as the Princess of the Fire Nation. This sort of responsibility should never fall on you, but for me it is nothing unheard of. There have been countless members of the Royal Family who have been married off as soon as they hit the legal limit. But the reality of that happening to me is so much more possible since we’re living in a time of war,” Azula explained.

“But haven’t we won the war already?” Izanami asked.

“While we might have taken control of Ba Sing Se, we still don’t have control over the entire world. There will always be rebellions that could threaten our grasp on victory. Not to mention, the Water Tribes are still somewhat in tact and there are still parts of the Earth Kingdom where we haven’t achieved victory,” Azula pointed out.

“This is so messed up. We’re only teenagers and we shouldn’t be worrying about marriage now. And we certainly shouldn’t be worrying about an endless war,” Izanami grumbled.

“Hopefully it will finally come to an end on the day of Sozin’s Comet. While I’m not sure what exactly he has planned, I know that father is sure to take advantage of the comet to achieve total victory in the war,” Azula said.

Izanami sighed, “Let’s hope that you’re right. This war has gone on for far too long.”

“In the meantime, lets make the most of the time we have to spend together because who knows what could happen,” Azula suggested.

“Sounds like a plan,” Izanami smiled, and for the first time in days.

Since the girls already had so much on their minds after recent events, Izanami knew that this little get together wouldn’t be like it should be since they both had so much pressure on their shoulders. But they still had to make the most of what little time they had together because of their responsibilities, especially since they needed each other now more than ever.

~*•°•*~

Following the time that Izanami spent with Azula, she grudgingly made her way to the Capital City’s most luxurious restaurant as that was where she had agreed to meet Natsumi for dinner. Even though Izanami didn’t want to waste any time on this, she knew that her parents would only become more unbearable if she didn’t make it seem like she was showing any interest. So against her own wishes, Izanami had agreed to meet up with him for the night just for the sake of keeping her parents happy.

Knowing that Izanami had to get along with Natsumi, it only made her want to hate him even more. As much as Izanami wanted to give him a chance, she knew that she was never going to be able to force any kind of connection with Natsumi. While she had been open to the possibility of a friendship with him before, that was only because she thought he genuinely wanted to be her friend. Only now Izanami realised that he had sought her out on purpose and was never genuine with his intentions.

“Hello, Izana. I’m glad that you agreed to meet with me,” Natsumi greeted her.

Izanami glared at him, “First of all, you can’t call me that. Second of all, I only agreed to this to keep my parents off my back. That’s all there is to this.”

“I see that you’re still as repulsed by the idea as you were before,” Natsumi noted.

“My thoughts on the matter will never change, Natsumi. But my thoughts don’t mean anything to my parents. They never have,” Izanami stated.

“Fair enough,” Natsumi grumbled. “Since we’re probably going to end up getting married anyways, we might as well get to know each other.”

“What’s there to know?” Izanami snapped.

“Well, what do you enjoy doing? While you might find it hard to believe, I only want to make you happy, Izanami,” Natsumi replied.

“If you really wanted me to be happy then you wouldn’t have agreed to this arrangement,” Izanami pointed out. “Why did you even agree to this arrangement? Surely there are other families out there with girls more suited to your type.”

Natsumi shrugged, “My family has always been big on maintaining tradition and part of that tradition is expanding your success with other families. I’ve always known that an arranged marriage was in my future purely because nobody in my family ever married for love. They only ever married to fulfil their duties.”

“Unlike you I actually want to marry someone that I want to spend the rest of my life with. Not someone that my parents assigned me to. But I guess that’s not going to happen now,” Izanami said.

“Let’s just start getting to know each other,” Natsumi suggested.

Izanami sighed, “I guess we might as well.”

“So, tell me about yourself. Anything at all,” Natsumi probed.

“You should know that I care more about the people I’m close with more than anyone else which includes myself. So if you think you can go through them then you’ll have to get through me as well,” Izanami proclaimed.

Natsumi nodded, “I like a girl who’s protective of the people she cares about. You come across as the type that would rather die than let anything happen to those you care about which is an admirable trait to have.”

“I’ve always cared about people. Even though my parents continue to mess with my life, I can’t help but care about them,” Izanami admitted.

“Do you think you could ever care about me?” Natsumi asked.

“I’m not sure. I think in time I could come to care about you but I could never care about you the way my parents want me to,” Izanami replied.

“Tell me about your relationship with Princess Azula,” Natsumi demanded.

Izanami raised her eyes, “What do you mean?”

“You know, how close you two are. How you met. What she means to you,” Natsumi elaborated.

“Why would you want to know that?” Izanami questioned.

“Because I’m going to have to know the people in your life,” Natsumi answered.

Izanami shrugged, “Azula is well… She’s just Azula. I first met her when I was seven after my brothers first deployment. Our parents left us to our own devices at Ember Island before we eventually went our separate ways. Then when I was eleven my dad got transferred to the Royal Plaza so I ended up going to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls where I met Azula again. After that we stayed close, and have been close ever since. She’s the only person that I’ve ever really called a best friend and she knows me better than anyone. Probably even better than I know myself.”

“It seems like your parents have always had a strong influence over your life,” Natsumi observed.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Izanami agreed. “If there’s one thing that they’ve done right its introducing me to Azula. I can’t imagine my life without her.”

The rest of their conversation continued in an awkward silence as they started to really get to know each other. One thing that Izanami got from the conversation was that Natsumi wasn’t as bad as she’d pegged him to be and that he was just as much of an involuntary participant as she was. This was something that they were both destined for since the beginning and it was certainly a destiny that they hadn’t planned for, but one that they’d have to go through anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a filler chapter, but you got to see some Azula/Izanami interaction. The possibility of Azula’s arranged marriage came to me from the fact that Azula was actually going to have an arranged marriage in Book Three but the idea never went through. Next chapter is when the Fire Gang goes to the beach which should be fun to write with Izanami in it.


	26. Day at the Beach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating sooner, I always forget to post my latest chapters onto my AO3 account before realising that I actually forgot but here it is anyways. This is the newest chapter that I’ve been looking forward to writing the most since it’s the Beach with Izanami added into the mix so it should be interesting to read. I tried my best to add Izanami in the best way possible, so I hope that you guys enjoy it and let me know what you think :).

Since her parents had announced her impending arranged marriage with Natsumi, Izanami had barely spoken to them. So when Azula gave her an invitation to go with her, Mai, Ty Lee and Zuko to Ember Island, Izanami was more than willing to go with them. Ember Island had always been a special place to Izanami, since it was where she had some of her fondest childhood memories. It was also the same place where Izanami had first met Azula, so it was good to go back there for old times’ sake.

Unlike most of their travels, they weren’t guided by the Royal Procession as they were travelling on a small boat that was big enough for the five of them. It was one of the Fire Nation’s less advanced ways of travelling, since it was being pulled by a large sea lion instead of being guided by a captain and crew.

It was safe to say that Zuko seemed to be less than pleased with their situation as he sat with a pout on his face, looking even more down than Mai usually did. On the other hand, Azula was leaning against the railing with her arms crossed while Ty Lee was looking out in the ocean with Izanami standing beside them.

“I’m so excited to spend the weekend on Ember Island. It’s going to be great to hang out on the beach and do nothing,” Ty Lee said as she placed her hands behind her head, imitating a relaxed position.

“Doing nothing is a waste of time,” Zuko angrily snapped as he rose from his seat next to Mai and gripped the railing of the boat. “We’re being sent away on a forced vacation. I feel like a child.”

“Lighten up. So dad wants to meet with his advisers alone, without anyone else around. Don’t take it personally,” Azula commented.

Izanami narrowed her eyes at Azula, surprised by her statement. Normally Azula was usually furious when she was left out of her fathers plans, so Izanami figured that she either really didn’t care or was just masking her frustration better than Zuko.

“Doesn’t your family have a house on Ember Island?” Ty Lee asked Azula.

“We used to come every summer when we were kids,” Azula replied nostalgically.

“That must have been fun!” Ty Lee exclaimed.

“That was a long time ago,” Zuko murmured distantly.

Ty Lee turned to Izanami, “Isn’t this where you and Azula first met?”

“Yeah,” Izanami nodded, sharing a smile with Azula. “We met here over eight years ago when we were both visiting.”

“And you destroyed my sand castle,” Azula recalled.

“Yes, I did. After you destroyed mine when you realised that I had built a better one than you,” Izanami smirked.

The two girls laughed as they recalled memories of their first meeting, which everyone listened to in interest. It was unusual for them to see Azula in this way, but they could tell that these were pleasant memories for Azula, unlike most of the ones from her childhood.

Their boat eventually arrived at the docks at Ember Island, entering the frame and moving towards the dock. Looking around, Izanami could see the various charming houses on the shore, many elegant-looking. Since Izanami knew that this wasn’t where Azula and Zuko’s beach house was, it made her wonder where they were staying.

Upon getting off the boat with their luggage, Izanami recognised Lo and Li standing there to greet them. Internally groaning at the thought of spending their vacation with the creepy old ladies, Izanami plastered a fake smile as they greeted them.

“Welcome to Ember Island, kids!” Lo and Li greeted them simultaneously.

They looked up at the house where it seemed they would be staying with disappointment before reluctantly following Lo and Li inside. When they entered their house, Izanami immediately noticed how… _old_ everything seemed to be. It certainly wasn’t anything that Izanami was used to.

“It smells like old lady in here,” Zuko whispered.

“Gee, I wonder why,” Mai sarcastically remarked.

Izanami fought back a laugh, “Wow, Mai. I didn’t think that you understood sarcasm.”

“Who are these two beautiful women?” Ty lee asked as she inspected a painting of two young women in yellow bikinis posing back to back.

“Can’t you tell?” Lo asked, with her and Li standing in front of the painting. “It’s Li and me.”

“It’s Lo and me,” Li said at the same time as her twin, with them now imitating the painting.

Everyone looked at the two sisters, disturbed. Zuko covered his mouth with his hand, about to vomit and Izanami grimaced at the sight. Ty Lee then turned her attention to a bed with pink sheets as Ty Lee lied down on it.

“Ooh, I love the seashell bedspread,” Ty lee fawned over the pillow as she rubbed it admiringly.

“Are you serious? It looks like the beach threw up all over it,” Mai commented.

“I’ve seen better designs,” Izanami muttered.

“We know you’re upset that you were forced to come here this weekend,” Li started as she and her twin stood in front of the teenagers.

“But Ember Island is a magical place. Keep an open mind,” Lo continued.

“Give it a chance,” Li added.

“And it can help you understand yourselves and each other,” they said simultaneously in a way that never ceased to freak Izanami out.

Lo grabbed a smooth rock nearby, “The beach has a special way…”

“Of smoothing the most ragged edges,” Li finished.

Ty Lee joined the foursome as Azula yawned with disinterest.

“Time to hit the beach!” Lo and Li exclaimed as they clapped twice and tore off their robes, revealing their loosely-fitting bathing suits.

Shuddering at the sight in front of her, Izanami glanced the other way to see that Mai had covered Zuko’s eyes from the sight, as she rightfully should since it wasn’t a pleasant sight be any means.

~*•°•*~

After washing her eyes from the disturbing sight of Lo and Li in their bathing suits, the group of teenagers headed down to a beach on Ember Island. Azula and Izanami each carried their own blanket, Ty Lee carried a bag while Zuko and Mai held an umbrella. As they tried to find a nice place to sit, Azula noticed two kids building a sandcastle and stepped on it, staring down at them intimidatingly which was enough to get them to scurry off and Azula kicked their bucket out of the way.

“Was that really necessary?” Izanami asked, crossing her arms in disapproval.

Azula shrugged, “It was the best spot.”

Beside her, Izanami noticed Ty Lee put her bag down as she was approached by a boy, which didn’t go unnoticed by Azula either. They watched as he helped Ty Lee finish unpacking up, with him doing most of the work. Izanami smirked as she noticed Azula watching on in annoyance and jealousy as Ty Lee sat on the blanket.

“I’m sure you could get someone to help you if you asked them,” Izanami suggested.

“But I’m the princess, I shouldn’t have to ask people to do things for me. They should be offering me!” Azula snapped.

“Somebody’s jealous,” Izanami teased.

“I am _not_. Jealousy is just a petty emotion that I do not feel. What is there to even be jealous of?” Azula insisted.

“Ty Lee getting so much attention while you’re being ignored?” Izanami supplied before noticing the scowl on Azula’s face. “Oh, you were being rhetorical.”

“Whatever. They’re just stupid boys. I could find myself someone better if I wanted to,” Azula stated.

“There’s the spirit,” Izanami said.

“So, how are things going back home?” Azula asked as she tried to take her attention away from the attention that Ty Lee was receiving.

Izanami sighed, “Could be worse. I guess my parents could be forcing me to marry him, instead of making it seem like I have a choice when I so obviously don’t. Plus, it’s not like Natsumi is a horrible person or anything.”

“I wish that there was something I could do to step in. But your parents technically aren’t breaking any rules,” Azula huffed.

“They’ve been pushing me to spend more time with Natsumi, which I’ve reluctantly been doing just to get them to be quiet. I think he knows that we’re never going to have a genuine relationship, so he’s not pushing me or anything. At least he’s being somewhat respectable about it,” Izanami admitted.

“We should do something to get your mind off of your parents,” Azula suggested.

“Like what?” Izanami asked.

“Like that,” Azula replied as she and Izanami looked at some kids playing kuai ball.

“Then we’ll have to round up the others,” Izanami said.

“Hey, beach bums, we’re playing next,” Azula called out to the people playing before turning to Ty Lee who was being fanned by two teenagers while a third boy held up a blanket to give her shade. “Ty Lee, get over here _now_!”

Doing just that except on her hands, Ty lee headed over to them as they prepared to play the next round. Opting to take off his shirt for the game, Zuko threw it down as doves flew above him while a group of girls looked at him dreamily while blushing and giggling. Even Izanami had to admit that his upper body looked pretty good. With their fivesome ready to play, they got together in a team huddle as Azula laid down the plan.

“See that girl with the silly pigtails? When she runs towards the ball, there’s just the slightest hesitation of her left foot,” Azula began as they glanced at the girl who was juggling the ball with her legs. “I’m willing to bet a childhood injury has weakened her. Keep serving the ball to her left, and we’ll _destroy_ her and the rest of the team. Dismissed.”

As they got up and readied themselves for the game to begin, Izanami couldn’t help but chuckle at how precise Azula’s plan was, like they were trying to take down some empire when in reality, all they were doing was playing a game. Leave it to Azula to always look for the upper hand, even in recreational fun.

The game began with Azula leaping up and kicking the ball which went flying past them. When the ball came back on their side, Zuko sprint forward and kicked the ball up and Azula ran forward and hit the ball as it fell, getting it past a teenage girl. Using her agility, Izanami ran towards the ball and jumped into the air, spinning herself around as she kicked the ball back down at the other team. It continued as Ty Lee leaped up and kicked the ball down, landing on the net with precision. Then it was Mai’s turn to take charge as she ran forward and kicked the ball.

For their final move, Azula jumped up on Zuko’s back for a boost and kicked the ball, causing it to rocket forward and practically explode in the middle of the field, setting the net on fire. Looking down at the opposing team as they were all sprawled out on the ground, it was safe to say who had won that match. While it was just a small game of kuai ball, Azula seemed to take extra joy in watching their defeat.

“Yes! We defeated you for _all_ time! You will never rise from the ashes of your shame and humiliation!” Azula proclaimed evilly before turning to the others and speaking calmly. “Well. That was fun.”

Two boys then approached them, seeming to have taken an interest in them. Based on the looks on their faces, Izanami could tell that they were particularly interested in Mai and Ty Lee.

“I’m having a party tonight. You should come by,” the stronger boy said to Ty Lee.

“Sure. I love parties,” Ty Lee smiled.

“Your friend can come, too,” Ruon-Jian offered Mai.

“And the other cute girl,” the stronger boy said, referring to Izanami.

“Uh, what about me and my brother? Aren’t you going to invite us?” Azula asked, slightly angered. When Azula got no response from either of them, she spoke again. “You don’t know who we are, do you?”

“Don’t you know who _we_ are? We’re Chan and Ruon-Jian,” the strong one, Chan, introduced themselves.

“Yeah,” Ruon-Jian drawled.

That seemed to tick Zuko off as he started walking towards them aggressively, but was stopped by Azula. For these boys to not know who Azula and Zuko were, Izanami wasn’t so sure how Azula wasn’t going to handle this situation so she stood by and let her deal with it.

“But fine, you’re invited,” Chan conceded. “Just so you know, though, some of the most important teenagers in the Fire Nation are gonna be at this party, so try and act normal.”

“We’ll do our best,” Azula smiled sinisterly.

When Chan and Ruon-Jian left them to themselves, the group decided to head back to Lo and Li’s beach house to prepare themselves for the party. Although Izanami was wondering why Azula hadn’t told the boys who she was, since it wasn’t like Azula to not make her identity known. But Izanami figured that Azula would have her own reasons for doing so, and that she’d find out later. Right now, they had a party to get ready for. Even if Izanami didn’t really feel like going.

~*•°•*~

Later that day, the group sat down at Lo and Li’s beach house as they had their dinner to get them ready for the party that night. They all sat down as they ate their dinner, looking out at the view before them.

“Why didn’t you tell those guys who we were?” Zuko asked, voicing Izanami’s question that she was yet to receive an answer for.

“I guess I was intrigued. I’m so used to people worshipping us,” Azula replied.

“They should,” Ty Lee cut in.

“Yes, I know, and I love it,” Azula smirked. “But, for once, I just wanted to see how people would treat us if they didn’t know who we were.”

“Like waves washing away the footprints on the sand, Ember Island gives everyone a clean slate,” Li began.

“Ember Island reveals the true you,” Lo finished.

Together, the twins stood up, snapped their fingers twice and pointed upwards as they chanted, “To the party!”

“Could they be any weirder?” Izanami muttered, but loud enough for Azula to hear which earned a chuckle from the other girl.

“We should get ready to leave now,” Azula suggested.

“Why?” Mai questioned.

“Because, we can’t give our party hosts the wrong impression. We should be perfectly on time,” Azula answered.

Izanami sighed, “Let’s just get going.”

If she was being completely honest, Izanami wasn’t really looking forward to this party whatsoever. It wasn’t like it was any party in the Fire Nation Royal Palace, so Izanami doubted that it would be anything special. Plus, Izanami didn’t want to waste her time on Chan and Ruon-Jian, since they seemed to think that they were Agni’s gift to the beach when in reality they were just a pair of nobody’s who liked to think that they were somebody.

So walking up to Chan’s beach house, Izanami trailed behind the others as she glanced down at the sea, wishing that she was anywhere else but here. Based on the looks on things, it seemed like they were a bit too early for this party since it hardly seemed like there was anybody else around. But that didn’t seem to concern Azula.

“We’re going to look like total losers, showing up like this,” Izanami stated.

“Like what?” Zuko glanced at her.

“Early. Nobody is probably even there yet, so why should we have to be here before anyone else?” Izanami argued.

“Because we are the perfect party guests,” Azula interjected as she knocked on the door to Chan’s beach house, which he soon opened looking somewhat confused.

“Um… You’re a little early. No one’s here yet,” he said.

“Told you so,” Izanami smirked.

“I heard you telling someone you’d be partying from dusk ‘till dawn. It’s dusk, so we’re here,” Azula stated.

“But that’s just an expression,” Chan drawled, causing Izanami to giggle.

“We are the perfect party guest. We arrive right on time, because we are very punctual,” Azula insisted, making a cutting motion with her hand.

That seemed to be enough for Chan as he shrugged and gestured them to follow him as he turned away. Glancing around, Izanami noticed that it was a fairly spacious room that had already been decked out for the party.

“All right, listen. My dad’s an admiral. He has no idea I’m having this party, so don’t mess anything up,” Chan warned them.

“That’s a sharp outfit, Chan. Careful. You could puncture the hull of an empire-class Fire Nation battleship, leaving _thousands_ to drown at sea, because it’s so…. Sharp,” Azula tried flirting, pointing at Chan’s outfit for emphasis.

“Um… Thanks,” Chan said awkwardly as he backed away, causing Azula’s smile to change to a look of disappointment, which wasn’t something that Izanami usually saw from her.

“Wow… That was… really terrible,” Izanami joked as Mai, Ty Lee and Zuko walked off.

“What?” Azula asked.

“Your attempt at _flirting_ ,” Izanami drawled.

“I wasn’t flirting. I was just making a conversation starter,” Azula said.

“For someone who can talk to an entire army of earthbenders and firebenders with ease, you sure know how to talk to the guys,” Izanami smirked.

Azula rolled her eyes, “Okay, that’s enough.”

Laughing, Izanami followed Azula as they walked throughout Chan’s house, waiting for the party to begin while being the only ones there. It seemed as though Azula’s stress on punctuality was only making things even more awkward for them.

~*•°•*~

Not long after dusk, the party was in full swing. There were roughly around a hundred people there, all dancing and talking to each other while Azula and Izanami conversed on the side. Most of their conversation was Izanami making jokes at Azula’s pathetic attempt at flirting with Chan earlier.

“I’m telling you, that attempt at flirting was probably the worst thing that I’ve ever seen,” Izanami chuckled.

“We get it, Izana. I can’t talk to boys,” Azula grumbled.

“I mean, it’s not so hard to do. It’s like talking with girls except you just use smaller words,” Izanami said.

“Well, if it’s so easy then why don’t you go ahead and do it?” Azula snapped.

Izanami shrugged, “Okay.”

Doing just that, Izanami looked around the room before noticing one guy who wasn’t really talking with anyone else and decided to approach him. Giving Azula one last raise of her eyes, Izanami turned her attention to the guy before addressing him.

“Hey,” she greeted him.

“Hello,” he returned the greeting.

“My name is Izanami,” she introduced herself.

The guy gave her a look, “I’m Raiden.”

“So, what brings you here?” Izanami asked.

“A few friends of mine were coming along, so they thought it would be fun to drag me along,” the guy – Raiden – replied. “What about you?”

“I was down at the beach today with my friends when Chan and Ruon-Jian invited us. We’re just visiting here for a few days so we figured that we might as well go and check it out,” Izanami replied.

“I’ve heard that Chan and Ruon-Jian know how to throw a good party,” Raiden said.

“I wouldn’t know since I haven’t been here in ages,” Izanami commented, since it was true. The last time that Izanami had been to Ember Island was when she was ten-years-old, and it certainly wasn’t like how she remembered it.

“I thought that you were a fresh face, since I would’ve remembered seeing someone as beautiful as you before,” Raiden smiled.

Izanami blushed, “Just like I’d remember someone like you.”

“How long are you going to be at Ember Island?” Raiden asked.

“This is my second day so I’ve got three more to spend,” Izanami replied.

“So you wouldn’t be open to meeting up some time?” Raiden stated.

“Yeah, it wouldn’t really mean anything if we were to meet up again since we’d probably never see each other again,” Izanami said.

“For what it’s worth, I hope that I do see you again,” Raiden smiled.

“Likewise,” Izanami returned the smile before walking back to Azula with a smirk on her face. It was obvious that Azula hadn’t liked how Izanami’s conversation had gone, purely for the fact that she had been proven wrong.

“Yeah, yeah. Gloat it up,” Azula muttered.

“Told you that flirting wasn’t so hard,” Izanami smirked.

They were soon joined by Ty Lee, who cartwheeled towards them before landing on her feet, “Oh, I’m glad you guys are here. Those boys won’t leave me alone. I guess they all like me too much.”

“Come on, Ty Lee. You can’t be this ignorant,” Azula snapped, catching Izanami off guard.

“What are you talking about?” Ty Lee wondered obliviously.

“Those boys only like you because you make it too easy for them. You’re not a challenge. You’re a tease. It’s not like they actually care who you are,” Azula stated, causing Ty Lee to start crying.

“Azula,” Izanami hissed, surprised that her friend would say that to Ty Lee.

“Okay, okay, calm down,” Azula apologised in a softer and gentler tone. I didn’t mean what I said. Look, maybe I just said it because I was a little…” Azula trailed off before whispering, “Jealous.”

“Now that’s something I never thought I’d hear come out of your mouth,” Izanami commented, since jealousy had never seemed to be a problem for Azula before.

“What?” Ty Lee asked in surprise. “But you’re the most beautiful, smartest, perfect girl in the world.”

“Well, you’re right about all those things,” Azula agreed as she glanced around the room. “But, for some reason, when I meet boys, they act as if I’m going to do something horrible to them.”

“But you probably would do something horrible to them,” Ty Lee giggled. “I’m sure they’re just intimidated by you. Okay, look, if you want a boy like you, just look at him and smile a lot and laugh at everything he says even if it’s not funny.”

“Well that sounds really shallow and stupid…” Azula trailed off before turning to Ty Lee. “Let’s try it.”

Izanami watched in amusement as Ty Lee got into a deep voice, as if she was imitating a boy before calling Azula sweet sugar cakes. It seemed as though Azula took Ty Lee’s advice too strongly as she gave an awkward laugh in response, causing everyone to stare at her.

“Well,” Izanami chuckled. “That was embarrassing.”

“Like you could do any better,” Azula snapped.

“Try it like this,” Izanami suggested before giving a softer, gentler laugh compared to Azula’s louder laugh. Azula then followed in suit, imitating the laugh perfectly.

“I think you’re ready!” Ty Lee exclaimed excitedly.

Azula grinned, “It’s time to put this to good use.”

Both Izanami and Ty Lee gave Azula thumbs up as she headed off towards Chan before walking off with the boy. After that, they just sat there and talked with each other before their conversation was interrupted by a large slamming noise. Turning to the source of it, they were surprised to see Zuko getting into a fight with Chan and Ruon-Jian before Mai abruptly broke up with him and he stormed out. They were soon joined by Azula, who hadn’t witnessed what had just happened.

“How did it go with Chan?” Izanami asked curiously.

Azula shrugged, “It started off fine. I laughed at his jokes, he kissed me and then I said that we would dominate the earth and then he just left me.”

“Yeah, we should’ve warned you about saying anything to do with world domination,” Izanami said.

“Did you see Zuko and Mai break up?” Ty Lee asked.

“What?” Azula snapped her head forward. “How did that happen?”

“Zuko got into a fight with Chan and Ruon-Jian before Mai had enough and broke up with him and then Zuko got kicked out,” Izanami explained.

“Hm,” Azula thought for a moment. “Let’s ditch this place and go find Zuko. This party was getting boring anyways.”

Having no problems with Azula’s suggestion, Izanami quickly followed Azula out the door with Mai and Ty Lee behind her. This party certainly wasn’t anything that Izanami had enjoyed, so she was more than happy to get away from it.

~*•°•*~

When they found a quiet place on the beach to sit, Azula headed off in the direction of their family’s beach house to find Zuko, leaving Izanami, Mai and Ty Lee to sit in an awkward silence. It wasn’t long until Azula showed up with Zuko who seemed to have a rather distant look on his face.

“Hey,” Mai acknowledged him, with some hesitance in her voice.

“Where’s your new boyfriend?” Zuko snapped as Mai turned away and Zuko sat beside her as he tried to place a hand on her shoulder. “Are you cold?”

“I’m _freezing_ ,” Ty Lee stated as Mai slapped Zuko’s hand away from her shoulder.

“I’ll make a fire,” Zuko asserted as he turned to his family’s beach house. “There’s plenty of stuff to burn in there.”

To Izanami’s surprised, Zuko returned with an old painting of the Royal Family, which featured a younger Azula and Zuko along with Ozai and their mother, Ursa. Zuko was quick to toss it onto the fire, and the painting slowly began to burn.

“What are you doing?” Ty Lee asked.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Zuko snapped.

“But, it’s a painting of your family…” Ty Lee trailed off.

“You think I care?” Zuko angrily sneered at her.

“I think you do,” Ty Lee said softly.

“You don’t know me, so why don’t you just mind your own business?” Zuko snarled before walking away.

Ty Lee scoffed, “I know you.”

“No, you don’t,” Zuko growled. “You’re stuck in your little “Ty Lee world” where everything’s great all the time.”

“Zuko, leave her alone,” Mai warned him.

“I’m so pretty. Look at me. I can walk on my hands. Who!” Zuko exclaimed as he imitated Ty Lee and did a handstand before falling down. “Circus freak.”

Azula giggled causing Izanami to glare at her, knowing that Ty Lee was obviously upset and was only adding more to that by laughing at Zuko’s statement.

“Yes, I’m a circus freak. Go ahead and laugh all you want,” Ty Lee cried. “You want to know _why_ I joined the circus?”

“Here we go,” Azula drawled.

“Do you have any idea what my home life was like? Growing up with six sisters who look exactly like me?” Ty Lee stood up. “It was like I didn’t even have my own name!” Ty Lee exclaimed as she knelt down, crying. “I joined the circus because I was scared of spending the rest of my life as part of a matched set. At least I’m different now,” Ty Lee lifted her head as she spoke angrily, “Circus freak is a compliment!”

“Guess that explains why you need ten boyfriends, too,” Mai commented.

“I’m sorry, what?” Ty lee balled her hands into fists as she pointed them on her hips.

“Come on, guys. Let’s not argue with each other now,” Izanami reasoned, knowing that it was a matter of time before they all got into a high-intensity argument.

“Attention issues. You couldn’t get enough attention when you were a kid, so you’re trying to make up for it now,” Mai explained.

“Well, what’s _your_ excuse, Mai?” Ty Lee demanded. “You were an only child for fifteen years, but even with all that attention, your aura is this dingy, pasty, grey…”

“I don’t believe in auras,” Mai interrupted.

“Yeah, you don’t believe in anything,” Zuko muttered.

“Oh, well, I’m sorry I can’t be as high-strung and crazy as the rest of you,” Mai sarcastically apologised.

“I’m sorry, too. I wish you _would_ be high-strung and crazy for once instead of keeping all your feelings bottled up inside. She just called your aura dingy. Are you gonna take that?” Zuko challenged.

“What do you want from me? You want a teary confession about how hard my childhood was?” Mai asked as she leaned back. “Well, it wasn’t. I was a rich only child who got anything I wanted… as long as I behaved and sat still, and didn’t speak unless spoken to. My mother said I had to keep out of trouble. We had my dad’s political career to think about.”

“Well, that’s it, then. You have a controlling mother who had certain expectations, and if you strayed from them, you were shut down. That’s why you’re afraid to care about anything, and why you can’t express yourself,” Azula analysed.

“You want me to express myself?” Mai snapped as she stood up and yelled, “Leave me alone!”

“I like it when you express yourself,” Zuko said softly as he approached Mai, attempting to put a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t touch me! I’m still mad at you,” Mai snapped as she jerked away.

“Come on, guys. We’re all friends here. We should be supporting each other,” Izanami reasoned.

Mai scoffed, “We’re not _friends_ , Izanami. We just so happen to be Fire Nation nobles who got forced together and now we’re stuck with each other for the rest of our lives.”

“That’s not true,” Izanami insisted.

“Please, I wouldn’t even be ‘friends’ with any of you if my parents hadn’t jumped out of their skins when they realised that the Fire Lord had a daughter around my age. Neither would Ty Lee. And don’t act like it wasn’t your parents who pushed you into being friends with Azula,” Mai said.

“Stop it,” Izanami hissed, not liking to think about her parents.

Zuko scoffed, “There you go, acting like a fool who doesn’t like being told the truth when you know it is.”

“You guys want to know the truth? Fine! I’ll tell you the truth,” Izanami snapped, reaching her boiling point. “I’m sick and tired of people always interfering with my life, especially my parents. For once, I just want to have something that’s _mine_. Something that can’t be taken away from me or forced upon me be anyone else. Is that too much to ask?”

“Please, that’s hardly a struggle,” Zuko snorted.

“Zuko, quit being such a jerk,” Mai warned him.

“My life hasn’t been that easy either, Mai,” Zuko stated.

“Whatever. That doesn’t excuse the way you’ve been acting,” Mai snapped.

“Calm down, you guys. This much negative energy is bad for your skin. You’ll totally break out,” Ty Lee said.

“Bad skin? _Normal_ teenagers worry about bad skin. I don’t have that luxury,” Zuko snarled as he leaned forward and pointed to his scar. “My father decided to teach me a permanent lesson on my _face_!”

“Sorry, Zuko, I…” Ty Lee trailed off apologetically.

Zuko turned around. “For so long I thought that if my dad accepted me, I’d be happy. I’m back home now, my dad talks to me. Ha! He even thinks I’m a hero. Everything should be perfect, right? I should be happy now, but I’m not,” Zuko continued as he turned back to the others. “I’m angrier than ever and I don’t know why!”

“There’s a simple question you need to answer, then,” Azula cut in. “Who are you angry at?”

“No one. I’m just angry,” Zuko replied.

“Yeah, who are you angry at, Zuko?” Mai challenged.

“Everyone,” Zuko said before changing his mind. “I don’t know.”

“Is it dad?” Azula suggested.

“No, no,” Zuko repeated.

“Your uncle?” Ty Lee wondered.

“Me?” Azula questioned.

“Your mother?” Izanami asked.

“No, no, n-no, no!” Zuko stammered.

“Then who? Who are you angry at?” Mai interrogated him.

“Answer the question, Zuko,” Azula insisted.

“Talk to us,” Ty Lee pleaded.

“Come on, answer the question,” Mai probed.

“We just wanna help,” Izanami added.

“I’m angry at myself!” Zuko yelled furiously, slamming his fists down and causing the camp fire to turn into a pillar of fire, causing the girls to recoil from the flames. It eventually died down as Zuko turned away.

“Why?” Azula asked softly.

“Because I’m confused. Because I’m not sure I know the difference between right and wrong anymore,” Zuko replied.

“You’re pathetic,” Azula jeered.

“I know one thing I care about,” Mai said as she walked up to Zuko. “I care about you.”

Azula clapped softly as Mai and Zuko kissed. “Well, those were wonderful performances, everyone.”

“I guess you wouldn’t understand, would you, Azula?” Zuko scoffed as he put an arm around Mai. “Because you’re just _so_ perfect.”

“Well, yes, I guess you’re right. I don’t have sob stories like all of you. I could sit here and complain how our mom liked Zuko more than me, but I don’t really care,” Azula mused as she gazed into the fire. “My own mother thought I was a monster,” Azula paused for a moment. “She was right, of course, but it still hurt.”

“What Lo and Li said came true. The beach did help us learn about ourselves,” Ty Lee stated as she picked up a rock and rubbed it, smiling, “I feel all smoothed. I’ll always remember this.”

“You know what would make this trip _really_ memorable?” Azula suggested as she stood up.

“I know! We could sing songs or tell scary ghost stories!” Ty Lee eagerly exclaimed.

Azula did a small face-palm as she shook her head at Ty Lee, “Absolutely not. We’re going to teach Chan a lesson.”

“Now _that_ sounds like a good idea,” Zuko agreed.

Since Izanami had no problems in teaching the jerk a lesson, she eagerly followed the others as they headed back to Chan’s beach house. The whole time, Izanami couldn’t help but think back to their conversation at the beach, knowing that she had learned more about her friends than she ever thought she would.

“We’ve got some bad news, Chan,” Azula announced as Chan opened the door to them.

“Party’s over,” Zuko snarled.

Much to Chan’s horror, the five teens stormed into his house as they began to trash the place. Zuko kicked a table in half as Chan looked on in fear while Mai threw a knife out, which sliced through some paintings hanging from the wall. At that, Chan’s eyebrows started to twitch as Ty lee flipped off the support beam and flew forward, grabbing on to a chandelier and jumping on to another before it fell. That seemed to be enough to bring Chan to tears and even more came pouring out as Izanami lit any priceless objects on fire. The whole time, Azula was just smirking at Chan looking cool, calm and collected like it was just another day for her.

Once they had finished destroying Chan’s beach house, the five teenagers all stood beside one another with their arms linked, satisfied at what they had done. All in all, Izanami had enjoyed their trip to the beach, since it allowed her to see her friends in a new light and destroying Chan’s beach house had certainly made it a memorable occasion, one that she wouldn’t be forgetting any time soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the longest chapter that I have written for this story so far so I hope you guys enjoyed the content. Based on some of the reviews, a lot of you seem to want Azula/Izanami to become a thing and I’m just gonna say it now that if it does happen, it won’t be anytime soon and it won’t be because you guys want it to happen. As the writer, I decide what route the story takes and you’ll find out eventually if it turns out the way you want it to. Just don’t get your hopes up for anything that I’m not confirming or denying.


	27. Lost History

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gets a little interesting, since it delves into more of Izanami's family history so I hope you guys enjoy it. This chapter takes place during the Avatar and the Fire Lord.

Lounging around in the Fire Nation Royal Palace was a good way for Izanami to avoid everything that was waiting for her outside of the walls. Everything being her parents and their every-persistent nagging to get her closer to Natsumi. There was only so much of their pushing that she could take, so Izanami was glad that she got to spend this time with Azula. Since her parents had now taken away almost every bit of freedom that Izanami had, she had to plan ahead of time and let her parents know whatever it was that she was doing.

It had been a few hours since Izanami had arrived at the Royal Palace, and for the most part, she and Azula had just taken a break from everything as they ranted about their oppressive parents and anything else that was bothering them. Azula had gone off for a bit, leaving Izanami on her own in Azula’s room. There had been countless nights that Izanami had spent in the girls room whenever they had sleepovers. Those were some of Izanami’s fondest memories, since those were the rare times that she got to see her friend in a different light.

Izanami’s thoughts were interrupted as she heard footstep entering the room and turned to see Azula walking back in. Although her friend seemed to have a rather thoughtful look on her face and when it came to Azula, that was mostly a bad thing.

“Something on your mind?” Izanami observed.

“Zuzu’s sticking his nose around in places he shouldn’t,” Azula stated.

“What’s he doing?” Izanami asked.

“He’s looking into our family history; trying to find out more about our Great Grandfather Sozin,” Azula replied.

“What’s there to find out?” Izanami wondered. “He’s the guy who started the war that’s been going on the past hundred years. Anything to know about him was covered in school.”

“But Zuzu seems to be more interested in his last moments before his death, which is unusual coming from him. After all, everyone knows that Sozin died peacefully in his sleep,” Azula commented.

“What’s so bad about Zuko doing a little bit of history hunting?” Izanami inquired.

“Because there is one thing that most people don’t know about Sozin. He and Avatar Roku were actually the best of friends during their youth. But then Roku betrayed Sozin when he chose the world over him and is now renowned as one of the most hated Avatars by the Fire Nation,” Azula explained.

“I’m sure Avatar Roku was just doing what he thought was best for the world since after all, the Avatar is supposed to protect the world, not just the Fire Nation,” Izanami reasoned.

Azula raised her eyebrows at her friend, “Who’s side are you on?”

“I’m just saying that there are two sides to every story,” Izanami shrugged. “The only people who really know what went down between Roku and Sozin are Roku and Sozin.”

“Either way, Roku became a disgrace to the Fire Nation. His loyalty was supposed to be first and foremost to the Fire Nation, which it wasn’t. That made him a traitor and he was branded as such after his death,” Azula stated.

“Doesn’t this make you wonder even more about your family history, Az?” Izanami questioned.

“What do you mean? Fire Nation history is textbook boring. There are no juicy secrets or stories hiding in the Dragonbone Catacombs. If there were, everyone would know about it,” Azula answered.

“Well, it certainly makes me wonder more about my family and where we came from. My mother and father like to think that we came from an elite bloodline but truthfully, there is very little that I know about my family’s history,” Izanami admitted.

“You could probably find out more about your family’s history in the Fire Nation archives,” Azula advised.

“Yeah, but I have to have special authorisation to go into that place,” Izanami said.

“You seem to be forgetting that you’re best friends with the Princess of the Fire Nation. I can get you into anywhere that you want to,” Azula boasted.

Izanami rolled her eyes, “How could I forget that?”

“Anyways, enough about boring history,” Azula dismissed the topic with a wave of her hand. “Let’s talk about the important stuff.”

Not wanting to waste anymore of the time that Izanami got to spend with Azula, they quickly threw themselves back into their conversation as they made the most of the time that they could spend together. One thing for sure though was that it was hard to waste any time with Azula, since this was Azula after all.

~*•°•*~

Thanks to the access granted by Azula, Izanami was able to snoop through the Fire Nation archives to hopefully find some more insight into her family’s history. When Izanami presented the idea to her parents, they were obviously hesitant and only allowed her to do this when Izanami insisted that it would be good for her to broaden her knowledge on her family. With an argument like that, it was hard for her parents to refuse her so they allowed her to snoop around.

If she was being completely honest, Izanami had no idea what she was going to find or what she even wanted to find. Her parents reluctance had made her even more curious though, since they made it seem like there was something important that she didn’t know about. Then again, that was a usual occurrence with her parents since they always seemed to be keeping secrets from her these days.

Upon entering the Fire Nation Archive, Izanami knew that she’d have to spend a lot of time shuffling through to find any sort of information on her family. Izanami was lucky that her family was considered nobility, since that meant that there was a higher chance of her finding any good information than it would be if she came from a family of a lower status.

After hours of searching through documents that didn’t give Izanami any good information that she was hoping to find, Izanami was this close giving up and throwing in the towel. That was, until she found an old journal that appeared to belong to one of her old relatives from generations ago. It was a brown book that hardly even looked useable, but the name Akira Hayashi immediately caught Izanami’s interest, knowing that one of her family’s old relatives shared the same name. Of all the names that Izanami remembered, Akira Hayashi was the one that stood out the most, simply because of her unspoken legacy.

Thinking back to when she was younger, Izanami would always remember how her parents would stress the importance for her and her brother to behave and be upstanding citizens, unlike what their ancestor Akira Hayashi did. Whenever Izanami asked about Akira, her parents always ignored the question or changed the topic. Now was Izanami’s chance to find out more about her lost relative.

Carefully, Izanami opened the rusty old journal so that it wouldn’t fall apart before she even read it. At first glance, Izanami noticed that the writing was barely legible, but it was still at a point where Izanami could read it. So with her curiosity getting the best of her, Izanami looked down at the scribbled words on the journal and began reading the book with interest.

**_Dear Journal,_ **

**_Yesterday was a huge day for me. Only because it was the day I finally turned eighteen and in my eyes, that’s the day I finally became an adult. While being seventeen was cool and sixteen was fun, eighteen has been the year that I’ve been looking forward to the most. Simply because this means that I finally have the freedom that I have always longed for to do as I please._ **

**_Ever since I was young, my parents have always made it so that they were in charge of my life. Now that I am eighteen, I can finally take back the control that my parents have always had over me. It’s not that I don’t love them, I’ve just been waiting for the opportunity to finally be me. That is why I have decided to have this journal, so that I can write about this new life that I’m about to experience._ **

**_For as long as I can remember, my parents have always made it seem like the world was a dangerous place and tried their best to make it so that I wouldn’t be able to leave them. Being the daughter of a magistrate, I’ve always received offers from potential suitors that my parents have also encouraged me to take, but I have always refused. For me, personally, I want to marry someone for love, not because its expected of me. While that might be something hard to come by, it’s definitely something that I want in my life._ **

Glancing up from the book, Izanami was slightly stunned to see that even way back then, arranged marriages were still a thing. At least for her ancestor Akira, it wasn’t something that appeared to be forced upon her. Based on the first few entries of the journal, Izanami could tell that Akira’s intentions for love were pure, since she always talked about wanting to find the love of her life to sweep her off her feet.

The early entries of Akira’s journal didn’t really have anything overly interesting that caught Izanami’s attention. For the most part, Akira talked about her life goals that were to travel the world and become an artisan. It seemed as though Akira already had her dream life planned out for herself. But given the reputation Akira had with her family, Izanami assumed that it was this life that didn’t coincide with her family’s wishes.

In Izanami’s opinion, this simple journal would’ve have to have been the most interesting thing that she’d ever read. It gave her more insight than any of the textbooks that she had to read for school did. Simply because it gave such an account on what life had to have been like back then. It almost made Izanami wish that she could travel back in time, since everything seemed so simpler back then when the world wasn’t engulfed in war and turmoil.

There was one name that caught Izanami’s attention throughout the entries, with that name being Sachiko, or Sachi as he was commonly referred to. He was a man that Akira had met during her travels to the Northern Water Tribe, and they connected instantly. When Akira left to travel the rest of the world, Sachiko joined her and it didn’t take Izanami long to realise that they were inseparable, much like she and Azula were.

During the early days of Izanami’s friendship with Azula, the two girls practically did everything together. Those were much simpler times, back when Azula didn’t have that much responsibility on her shoulders and Izanami didn’t constantly have her family interfering with everything that she did. One of Izanami’s favourite memories with Azula was back when she was eleven and Azula was ten. Back when Azula didn’t have so many expectations on her behaviour, she and Izanami always caused all kinds of trouble for the royal staff and looking back on those memories made Izanami smile.

_It was the afternoon and Azula and Izanami had spent the entire day together. For the most part, the two had messed with the royal staff as much as they could, which included hiding their materials and causing as much chaos as they could without getting in trouble. In the year that Izanami had spent as Azula’s friend, she had quickly learned that the younger girl had a knack at getting herself out of the most sticky situations._

_After hiding the cleaning staffs materials, Azula and Izanami had regrouped in the princesses bedroom as they plotted their next devious act. Although Izanami was notably worried about getting into trouble, Azula had reassured her that there was nothing to worry about and that even if they did get caught, she would do everything she could to make sure that Izanami didn’t get in trouble._

_“Do you really want to cause more trouble?” Izanami asked._

_Azula smirked, “Of course I do. Haven’t I always said that it’s fun to mess with people?”_

_“You do say that a lot,” Izanami murmured._

_“Now here’s what we should do to finish off our day of fun,” Azula rubbed her hands against each other as she explained her next plan. “Zuzu is currently in a training session and he usually plays around after his instructors leave, not that it does him any good. So, what we’re gonna do is sneak into the room so he can’t spot us and make him think that it’s haunted.”_

_“Would he really believe that?” Izanami wondered._

_“I may have let it slip that there’s always danger around whenever the royal guards aren’t there to protect us,” Azula replied._

_“You’ve been waiting to do this, haven’t you?” Izanami queried._

_“Of course I have. Messing with Zuzu is one of my favourite past-times. Now, let’s go!” Azula exclaimed as she grabbed Izanami’s hand and dragged her out of the room._

_Just like Azula said he would be, Zuko was still mucking around in the training room without the supervision of his instructors. It always amazed Izanami how Azula could so easily predict somebody’s movements, but Izanami had grown to be frequently impressed by the younger girl. They waited for a few moments while Zuko mucked around, until Azula pushed over one of the boxes that made Zuko jump with alert._

_“Who’s there?” Zuko demanded as he got into an awkward battle stance that Azula had to fight back laughs at._

_When a few moments of silence passed, they pushed a nearby table and immediately stopped once Zuko headed towards them. Right before Zuko could find them, they hid somewhere else as they watched in amusement while Zuko tried to figure out what had made that noise. Shrugging, Zuko turned around and just as he did so, Azula and Izanami pushed a tower of boxes over that practically scared the living daylight out of Zuko._

_“I’m warning you, I’m the Prince of the Fire Nation!” Zuko exclaimed._

_For a few moments, Zuko just stood there as he waited for something else to happen. The two girls then used that time to position themselves directly behind a suit of Fire Nation armour. They then turned it around so that it was facing Zuko, and positioned its sword as if it was about to attack him._

_“Maybe this place is haunted,” Zuko fretted as he looked around._

_“Everything comes alive,” Azula chanted in an unrecognisable voice that sent Zuko into hysterics._

_That seemed to be enough to freak Zuko out to the point where he bolted for the door of the room. Just as he was about to make a break for it, the girls pushed the suit of armour down onto him and Zuko screamed in alarm as he made his exit. Only once his voice disappeared down the halls did the girls fall onto the ground in a fit of laughter._

_“See, I told you that it would work!” Azula jeered._

_“I can’t believe he even believed that,” Izanami laughed._

_“This is Zuzu we’re talking about. He’ll believe anything that I tell him,” Azula stated._

_“What should we do now?” Izanami asked._

_“We should probably get out of here in case Zuko comes back with somebody else,” Azula suggested. “It would be even more amusing if this made people think Zuko was crazy.”_

_Nodding, Izanami followed Azula out the door and the two girls hid behind the curtains, quietly laughing to themselves as Zuko brought back one of the servants, insisting that the room was haunted while the servant berated him for causing such a mess. While Izanami felt bad at Zuko’s expense, it still made a great joke and a few amusing moments for the two girls._

Putting her focus back onto the book, Izanami continued to read through Akira’s journal entries. Reading about her travels was fascinating for Izanami, since she got to see the rest of the world from an entirely new perspective. It certainly made Izanami realise just how much things had changed in recent years. At some point, there appeared to be a large gap in journal entries for a few months before Akira seemed to go back to writing and her next entry sparked Izanami’s interest.

**_Dear Journal,_ **

**_Things have been getting rather complicated recently, which has given me very little time to write but it has also made me think about some very important things. As I have previously mentioned, I have been seeing Keizo for the past year after we met during one of my expeditions. While I have not known him for as long as I have known Sachi, there was something about Keizo that drew me to him for the moment I met him. Ever since then, he has become an integral part of my life and has made everything feel complete._ **

**_However, Sachi is convinced that Keizo is not being genuine with his interest in me, which is something that I cannot see. From the beginning of our relationship, Sachi never seemed to like Keizo, but he seemed to have tried for my sake. I’m not quite sure what has caused him to act this way, but he has been continuously telling me that I am not doing myself any favours by getting involved with Keizo._ **

**_The thing is, I really do care for Keizo. He is unlike any man that I have ever met, and the sort of man that I have always dreamed of having for myself. Yet at the same time, I value Sachi’s opinion and I would like to believe that he would have a justified reason for thinking what he has been thinking. It makes things even more confusing, since Keizo is already talking about marrying me and if I’m being completely honest, I see myself having a strong future with him. But I know that by choosing to marry Keizo, I would be losing my friendship with Sachi which is something that I’m not sure I want to lose._ **

**_If I asked my parents, they would tell me to forget about Sachi and focus on my future with Keizo since Sachi was just a friend, whereas Keizo was much more than that. But they both have the same value to me, as they fulfil different parts of my life. To say that I am at a crossroads is an understatement, and I have no idea what I should do._ **

Based on that entry, it was safe to assume that Akira had an important decision to make. From Izanami’s perspective, she would’ve told Akira to stick with Sachiko, since he was her friend long before Keizo came into the picture. But Izanami knew that it wouldn’t be so simple for Akira, since it seemed like she had other things to consider in regards to her decision.

As Izanami read more of Akira’s entries, she couldn’t help but notice how she started referring to Sachiko in a different way than she had originally. She still regarded him as one of her closest friends, but there was just something in the words that spoke to Izanami. Eager to find out what Akira had chosen to do, Izanami continued to read the journal until she found the answer that she was looking for.

**_Dear Journal,_ **

**_My decision on Keizo and Sachi has been made. Or I should say that it was made for me. It wasn’t the initial decision that I had stuck with, but looking back it was the one that I should have made. A few nights ago, Sachi had come to visit me looking battered and bruised so instinctively, I cared for him and helped him get better._ **

**_But when I found out that Sachi had gotten into a fight with Keizo, that was the last straw. I would’ve much rather have had both Keizo and Sachi in my life, but that incident made it obvious that I couldn’t have both. When Sachi demanded me to make a decision right then and there, Keizo was the first name that I said. That marked the end of my friendship with Sachiko, and he wished me good look before leaving me behind._ **

**_At first, I was glad. Glad that a decision had been made and that the constant battles with my head was over. But that relief soon turned to regret when I found out the truth. It was only by pure luck that I found out, since I had gone to my parents house to let them know that I would be taking my relationship further with Keizo. But when I arrived, Keizo was already there as he talked to my parents._ **

**_Every word that came out of their mouths, I refused to believe. But it was hard to deny the truth when it was right there in front of me. The truth being that Keizo had intentionally set out to pursue me, to make me his. It was even my parents who had asked him to do so. At first, I still thought that Keizo’s feelings for me were still genuine, but when he revealed that they weren’t, that was enough confirmation for me to know that I had made the wrong decision._ **

**_The moment those words left his mouth, I stormed through the doors and demanded answers. Most answers that I already knew, but some of which I was just hoping weren’t true. They had all confirmed what I had heard and that they were glad Sachiko was no longer in the picture so that I could focus on my future with Keizo. By then I was too lost for words to do anything to protest, but they were quick to send me away with Keizo in a state of emptiness. In the span of one night, I had lost everything that I thought I had. Now I have nothing._ **

That was the first entry that had truly brought Izanami to tears. At the same time, Izanami felt angry and frustrated which was no doubt what Akira had to have felt when this all went down. When Izanami found out that it was Akira’s parents who had pushed Keizo into her life, Izanami couldn’t help but wonder if that’s how things could have turned out for her. In hindsight, Izanami would much rather have an arranged marriage forced upon her instead of being mislead by someone into a marriage that was built on lies.

Thinking about her own situation made Izanami feel even more pain for Akira, since despite the circumstances they were still pretty damn similar. It frustrated Izanami beyond belief that people thought they had the right to force this upon them, and it made her even more angry at her parents for doing this to her. But wanting to find out the end of Akira’s story, Izanami turned the page and read the next entry.

**_Dear Journal,_ **

**_Since finding out the truth about Keizo’s intentions about our relationship, I have barely given him the time of thought. Granted, I spent the first night spewing in my hatred at him for lying to me like he did. Most of my thoughts rested on Sachiko, and how he had been right all along and that I had failed to see so. Having this time to think about it has made me realise how blind I truly was. Not just for realising Keizo’s true intentions, but for not realising that Sachiko was the obvious choice all along._ **

**_From the beginning, Sachiko had always been the best friend that I could ever ask for. He supported me through everything and was there for me when I needed him which looking back, was a criteria that not even Keizo had always fulfilled. This time has also made me completely re-evaluate my relationship with Sachiko, and what exactly he means to me. Only now I have come to realise that I was trying to make Keizo into another version of Sachiko without realising it because Sachiko is everything that I could want._ **

**_The problem is, Sachiko is from the Northern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation has never been one for marrying people from the other nations. If you did so, you were practically disgraced by your family and cut off from all assets. My parents made that quite clear, when it was a comment from my father that made me rethink everything I thought I thought about Sachiko. As a mistake on my part, I said that I would’ve been better off being with him over Keizo and my parents made it clear that if that’s what I wanted, then I should consider myself banished from our family._ **

**_At first, I was devastated. But then I realised that if my parents really loved me that they wouldn’t give me an ultimatum like this. With that in mind, I decided to cut myself off from  the rest of my family and finally do something that I wanted for me, not for anyone else. The problem is, Sachiko has all but disappeared. It was soon obvious that he had covered his tracks with the intention of doing so, which means that I must now find him in the hopes that he would forgive me._ **

**_With that being said, this will be my last journal entry. While writing down my thoughts and experiences has certainly helped me get through them, it’s time to close the chapter on this as I move forward with my life. I can only hope that Sachiko will be able to find it in himself to forgive me, even though I probably don’t deserve his forgiveness. But my heart can’t handle losing him for good, and I’m going to fight for what we had regardless of what anybody else thinks or wants._ **

Reading the last line, Izanami immediately turned the page over, only to realise that it was in fact Akira’s last journal entry. Even though it seemed obvious, Izanami still turned through every page to hopefully find an ending to Akira’s story.

“There has to be more. It can’t end here,” Izanami muttered, only to find nothing.

Sighing, Izanami leaned her head back against the pole that she was resting against as she thought about everything that she had learned on Akira. If Izanami was being completely honest, reading Akira’s journal had left her with more questions than answers. The main question being how everything was resolved between her and Sachiko. At the same time, Izanami was glad that Akira’s journal ended on somewhat of a high, with her breaking free from her parents clutches which was something that she had been unable to do.

Needing more time to think and a few extra answers, Izanami placed Akira’s journal back in her family’s archive where it belonged and left the building. While the answers that she wanted might not have been there, perhaps Azula would be able to use her influence to shed some light on what Izanami had just learned.

~*•°•*~

Arriving back at the Royal Palace within a few days, Izanami headed off to Azula’s room where her friend would be waiting for her. This was an arrangement that Izanami hadn’t made with her parents but despite that, Izanami didn’t care. She had more important things to find out.

“Izana, what has prompted you to visit me again on such short notice?” Azula asked as Izanami entered her room.

“I wanted to talk to you about something that I learned about my family’s history,” Izanami stated.

“I’m listening,” Azula leaned forward with interest.

“Have you ever heard of the name Akira Hayashi?” Izanami asked.

“Of course, I have. She’s an old Fire Nation legend. According to her records, she’s the first Fire Nation woman to marry somebody outside of the Fire Nation, which had her marked as a traitor for obvious reasons,” Azula replied.

“Would that outsider happen to have the name Sachiko?” Izanami questioned, surprised by Azula’s answer.

“From what I can recall, he did,” Azula answered before glancing at Izanami. “Why the sudden interest?”

Izanami sighed, knowing that this would probably send Azula off the rails, “Because she’s an old relative of mine.”

“What?” Azula exclaimed in shock.

“It’s true,” Izanami nodded in confirmation. “I knew this because ever since I was young, my parents would always warn me not to end up like Akira Hayashi did. Up until today I had no idea what they meant by that. Even walking in here I wasn’t so sure, but you’ve ended my curiosity.”

“How was she related to you?” Azula inquired.

“From what her records show, she was a relative on my dads side,” Izanami admitted, worried about how Azula would think of her because of this.

“I have to say, I did not know this,” Azula muttered.

Silence fell upon the two as neither girl was sure of what to say. The longer the silence lasted, the more nervous Izanami grew. Knowing how Azula felt towards traitors, Izanami was worried that this would change how she felt towards her.

“Az, I need to know…” Izanami trailed off. “If this changes anything about our friendship.”

Azula looked up at Izanami, with an unreadable look on her face, “It doesn’t. You’re still my friend, Izana. That girl, that _traitor_ is nothing like you. You are far more superior than she was in any way possible. You are a loyal friend, while that girl betrayed her nation and everyone close to her. I know that you would _never_ do that, Izana.”

Izanami let out a sigh of relief, “You have no idea how much that means to me, Zula.”

“Just because your ancestor was a traitor doesn’t make you one,” Azula crossed her arms.

“It did make me think though. I mean, our situations were so similar. Her parents wanted her to marry someone that she didn’t, just like mine do,” Izanami noted.

“But you would never betray the people you care about,” Azula asserted.

“I wouldn’t…” Izanami trailed off.

“Then this conversation is over,” Azula nodded. “Now, if you’ll excuse me I have some important matters to attend to. We’ll meet up again next weekend.”

“Yes, of course,” Izanami nodded before leaving Azula’s room.

To say that Izanami’s mind had been blown today was an understatement. She had learned something about her family that she never would’ve thought would be true. But in all honesty, learning about Akira and her trials and tribulations made Izanami contemplate her life even more than she already had.

While Azula thought that Izanami would never betray her country like Akira did, Izanami wasn’t so sure. Truthfully, Izanami would never betray the Fire Nation, but if running away and starting fresh could give her the freedom that she desired with her life, Izanami had to admit that the offer would be too tempting to decline. Not that she’d ever tell Azula that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just like the last chapter, this one turned out longer than I thought it would as well. This chapter was always going to delve more into Izanami's family history but I wasn't so sure how to do it until I started writing. Hope you guys liked the Akira feature, since it will definitely play a part in the rest of Izanami's journey and the small memory of Azula and Izanami.
> 
> Akira is a Japanese name that means the light coming from sun, Sachiko is a Japanese name meaning child of bliss and Keizo is a Japanese name meaning blessed keep.


	28. Pressure Building

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being MIA the past month, things got a bit busy in my personal life which left me with little time to work on this fic. But, I’m here now and ready to give you guys another chapter. This chapter takes place during the time of the Puppetmaster and Nightmares and Daydreams.

The closer they got to the invasion, the more Izanami started to notice Azula changing back to the cold and distant person she was whenever she had an agenda. It was clear to Izanami that this was because Azula was training for the Day of Black Sun, since Azula had told Izanami what she would be doing on that day. While Izanami hid with the other Fire Nation citizens, Azula would be in the secret bunker as she played her part to distract the Avatar in case he went looking for her father.

As much as Izanami told Azula that she didn’t need to practice to be perfect, Azula still dismissed her concerns as she insisted that whether or not the invasion plan succeeded was entirely up to her. With Azula’s priorities clearly outlined, Izanami knew that there was no point in bothering Azula, since Izanami knew what Azula could really be like when she was focused on something.

Since Izanami couldn’t use spending time with Azula as an excuse to evade Natsumi and her parents advances, she knew that it was about time that she sucked up some time with them even if she didn’t want to. Ever since her impending marriage to Natsumi had been announced, Izanami had been avoiding her parents as much as she could. But Izanami knew she couldn’t do that forever, and would eventually have to put up with their advances, which is exactly what she was doing now.

It had been upon her parents request that saw Izanami having dinner with Natsumi’s parents along with her own. The last time Izanami had seen Natsumi’s parents was the night when they announced her impending marriage to Natsumi. Since they were more than likely going to be her future in-laws, Izanami figured that she might as well just spend some time with them, no matter how much she didn’t like the situation.

“So, Izanami. It must be fascinating being friends with the Princess of the Fire Nation,” Satoshi began,

“In our younger days it was just Prince Iroh and Ozai who were in the Royal Family,” Suzume added.

“It’s a shame that Prince Iroh threw it all away for treachery. Now he’s paying the price while he rots away in prison,” Masaru commented.

“Tell us, what is the young Princess like?” Satoshi asked eagerly.

“Azula’s, well…” Izanami trailed off, unsure of how to answer that question. “She’s definitely a very driven person and focused on achieving her goals. She’ll stop at nothing to get what she wants and she’s willing to do whatever she has to in order to succeed.”

“It’s a shame you don’t have that same drive, my dear. You could’ve been so more than just the princesses sidekick,” Hikari interjected.

“Mother,” Izanami hissed. “I am not Azula’s ‘sidekick.’ Our friendship is genuine and she treats me with respect. We are just like any other teenage girls our age.”

Hikari narrowed her eyes, “Are you saying that _we_ don’t treat you with respect?”

“Of course not,” Izanami amended her slip up quickly. “You are my parents and have given me a life worth living. For that, I owe everything to you.”

“Indeed you do, my daughter. Which is why we’ve been discussing more about your future,” Masaru said.

“I thought you already had my future planned out for me,” Izanami muttered, glaring at Natsumi.

“Well, that part we have all figured out. But there are other things that you need to take into consideration, like your future career,” Masaru elaborated.

“While I would like nothing more than my daughter to carry on with the lessons that I have taught her about what it means to be a valid Fire Nation woman, I also want her to prove herself of being worthy of carrying on our name,” Hikari added.

“We’ve certainly never had to worry about that with Natsumi,” Satoshi boasted as he patted his son on the back. “He’s done everything that we’ve wanted for him and has already lived a successful youth. There is no doubt in my mind that Satoshi is our loyal son.”

“Father, you flatter me,” Natsumi blushed.

“Nonsense, dear. You’ve done a brilliant job and succeeded in so much at such a young age. You deserve every bit of praise and accolades your father and I give you,” Suzume smiled at him.

“The same cannot be said for our daughter,” Masaru butted in.

“Um, excuse me?” Izanami narrowed her eyes.

“With all due respect, my dear, you have certainly not lived up to your potential. There is so much out there waiting for you, yet you waste it all on that bloody princess who would discard you in a second,” Masaru explained.

“Azula is my _friend_ ,” Izanami spoke through gritted teeth, glaring at her father.

“But are you sure that is what you are to her?” Hikari asked.

“Is this really a conversation that we should be having in front of our guests, mother?” Izanami hissed.

“If they’re going to be a part of your future, they have every right to know about what goes on in your life,” Masaru reasoned.

“What if I don’t _want_ them in my future?” Izanami snapped.

“My dear, watch your tongue,” Hikari warned her.

“I apologise. I have just never been one for broadcasting my life to others,” Izanami muttered.

“That is quite understood, Izanami. We come from a rather private family ourselves and we always believe that family matters should stay that way,” Satoshi said.

“Even if it’s a matter that _doesn’t_ concern the rest of the family?” Izanami asked curiously, wondering if Natsumi’s parents were just as interfering as her own.

“Of course, not. Anything that concerns you concerns your family, and they have every right to know about the musings of your personal life if it affects you greatly,” Suzume proclaimed.

“That’s why our family is as close as it is, because we always share everything with each other,” Satoshi boasted.

“Though, I understand that your family isn’t as _complete_ as it used to be,” Suzume pried.

“Yes, we recently lost our eldest son in the war,” Hikari confirmed with a frown.

“That must’ve been horrible. I can’t imagine what it would be like if we lost our dear boy. Though, it must’ve been even harder for you, Izanami,” Satoshi acknowledged her.

Izanami gulped, “Yes, my brother and I were close. Before Princess Azula he was my best friend. I still haven’t quite fully recovered from his loss.”

“Well, you’re going to have to get over it pretty quickly if you’re going to be following in his footsteps,” Masaru said.

“What?” Izanami glanced at her father.

“That is the part of your future that we were talking about before, darling. Your father and I think that it would be wonderful if you were to represent our nation in the coming battles,” Hikari replied.

“But, I’m fifteen,” Izanami pointed out, since in the Fire Nation you weren’t properly allowed to enlist in the army until you were sixteen.

“Princess Azula is fourteen and already practically a member of the military. I’m sure Fire Lord Ozai would be willing to make an exception for you, especially since you’re his daughters best friend,” Masaru argued.

“Oh, so now our friendship is valid,” Izanami muttered.

“What was that?” Masaru snapped.

“Nothing. This is just a lot to take in so if you would excuse me, I’m going to take some time to myself,” Izanami announced before getting up and not even giving her parents the chance to make her stay as she left their kitchen.

As she walked out the back of her house, Izanami let out the nerves that had only just settled in upon her fathers announcement. He expected her to join the Fire Nation army, when she had just lost her brother to the same cause. It made Izanami wonder if her parents were already willing to let her go, since Kazu was only twenty-four when he lost his life in the war, which made Izanami think that she could just as easily suffer the same fate.

“Are you alright?” a voice asked.

Turning around, Izanami rolled her eyes as she saw Natsumi standing behind her. Figures that he would come after her, since he was probably ordered to do so by their parents, just like he was ordered to approach her in the first place.

“I don’t need your comfort,” Izanami snapped.

Natsumi sighed, “I understand that it might be a lot for you to take in, but you have to understand your parents reasoning.”

“You’re only saying that because the only reason why _you_ enlisted in the army was because of your parents,” Izanami remarked.

“It is the greatest privilege to fight for your country’s honour,” Natsumi proclaimed.

“I don’t even _care_ about fighting in the war! That’s not what I want to do with my life,” Izanami argued.

“It’s not like your parents expect you to fight at the front. They just want you to play a part in the military processes,” Natsumi reasoned.

Izanami rolled her eyes, “And here was my thinking that you’d actually come out here to comfort me. Well, I don’t want your shallow comfort, Natsumi. Just like I don’t want you apart of my life. Now just leave me alone.”

“Fine,” Natsumi conceded.

With a frustrated sigh, Izanami kicked the ground in annoyance as she mulled over what had happened tonight. In reality, Izanami shouldn’t be surprised that it would turn out to be a bit of a disaster with her parents withholding even more information from her. Now Izanami had something else to worry about, and it was certainly something that she could deal without.

~*•°•*~

Much to Izanami’s dismay, her parents seemed to be sold on the idea of her entering the Fire Nation army to prove herself as soon as possible. Given that the Day of Black Sun was quickly approaching, Izanami knew that they would be expecting her to take part in the events. What made it even worse was that Fire Lord Ozai had signed off on her to be on the forefront, thinking that it would be good to have some fresh blood out there with her youth behind her.

Knowing that Izanami would have to fight in the invasion was making her more nervous than she’d ever been. That was why Izanami had made a visit to Azula to hopefully get some advice and practice battle strategies that would be useful for her. Plus, Izanami was getting worried about how dedicated Azula was being to her training, since Izanami didn’t see why Azula still had to practice so much since her bending was already basically perfect.

When Izanami found Azula, she was busy working out in the training yard. Normally Izanami would just sit back and watch Azula train, since she admired how proficient her friend was when it came back to her training. But since Izanami had more important things to deal with than Azula’s training, she wasn’t just going to sit back and watch her.

“Hey, Az,” Izanami greeted her.

“Oh, hello, Izana. If you don’t mind, I’m busy training for the invasion,” Azula replied as she performed another spinning fire kick.

“I don’t really see how that’s necessary, since it’s not like you’ll be able to firebend,” Izanami pointed out.

Azula sighed, “Even so, I need to be prepared for anything. Although I might have to deal with the Avatar’s stooges, you know just as well as I do that he could be with them as well.”

“I came to talk to you about something,” Izanami said as she pulled out a slip of paper with Ozai’s seal of approval on it.

“What’s that?” Azula asked curiously.

“It’s a paper, with your fathers seal of approval on it,” Izanami replied.

Azula narrowed her eyes, “For what?”

“For me to take the forefront on the day of the invasion,” Izanami answered.

“What?” Azula exclaimed. “He can’t do that. You’re only fifteen.”

“He seems to think that since because you’re fourteen and you’ve grown up with the military your entire life that it’s okay for me to do it,” Izanami grumbled.

“Is this even what you want to do?” Azula questioned.

“No,” Izanami shook her head. “I want nothing to do with the real battle of the war. I’ll happily support you and be there for you when you need me. But I don’t want any blood shed on my hands.”

“I’m sorry, Izana. If I wasn’t so invested in this war maybe your parents wouldn’t expect you to be just like me,” Azula apologised.

“It’s not your fault, Az. It’s our parents for having unnecessarily hard expectations on us,” Izanami grumbled.

“Fathers getting everything ready for the Day of Black Sun, so you don’t have that much time to prepare yourself if you’re going through with this,” Azula stated.

“I have no choice, Azula. If my parents want me to do this then I have to,” Izanami murmured.

“It’s worth mentioning that I won’t be able to see you the day before the eclipse,” Azula said.

“Why?” Izanami inquired.

“There’s going to be an all-day war meeting to discuss future military plans. Obviously I’ll be expected to be there and since its an all-day thing, that means I won’t be able to see you,” Azula explained.

“Oh,” Izanami whispered.

“This is going to be the first time father has allowed me to go to such a meeting like this. I have to show him and everybody else that I’m worthy of being his daughter,” Azula proclaimed.

It was almost ironic how Azula was so desperate to prove herself worthy in the eyes of others while Izanami couldn’t care less about how other people saw her. Ever since they were young, it had been clear to Izanami how important it was for Azula to receive positive praise from others, since that was what fuelled her drive and determination. While Izanami thought that Azula was just fine without their encouragement, Azula thought otherwise.

“I’m sure you’ll do fine, Azula. Everybody already knows that you’re worthy of being the Fire Lord’s daughter. I mean, you conquered Ba Sing Se for Agni’s sake,” Izanami reassured her.

“But still, I have to prove myself to father. I don’t want to mess up like Zuzu did at the first war meeting he went to,” Azula admitted.

Izanami cringed at the reference to Zuko’s first war meeting, which lead to an Agni Kai with his father that Izanami had been forced to watch. While Azula had sat there and happily watched her brothers face get burned off, that was a memory that Izanami had never quite been able to get over.

“You’ll probably do just fine like you always do so stop worrying. And if you need any advice, just ask yourself, “What would Zuko do?” And do the exact opposite,” Izanami giggled.

Azula smirked, “I couldn’t ask for better advice. Thank you, Izana.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” Izanami smiled.

Although her words had given Azula some comfort, Izanami was still in need of reassurance with the impending eclipse that was without a doubt going to be the biggest moment of Izanami’s life so far. With that in mind, Izanami said a quick goodbye to her friend before heading off somewhere she was hoping to gain some much needed support.

~*•°•*~

Not too long after leaving the Royal Palace, Izanami headed off to a place that she dreaded going to; Kazu’s grave. Since Izanami hadn’t visited her brother after her initial return, Izanami figured that it was probably best to get some words in now when she needed them the most. Although his body wasn’t there with her, Izanami was hoping for some form of comfort that his spirit could hopefully give her.

As far as Izanami was aware, her parents hadn’t visited her brothers grave since his funeral, which upset since they clearly didn’t care about him, just like they didn’t care about her. They only cared about Kazu when he was alive and they were benefited by him being in the military, just like they only cared about Izanami since she was friends with Azula. Upon approaching Kazu’s grave, Izanami knelt down and gently placed a small bouquet of flowers, which was the only one that now comforted his grave.

“Hey, big brother. Things have been pretty hectic since the last time I visited, so I’m sorry for taking so long to get here again,” Izanami began, not even knowing where to start.

There had been so much going on in Izanami’s life since returned from the Fire Nation that it was almost hard to believe. If she was being completely honest, Izanami had expected a nice and quite life upon returning home but that was certainly not how things had turned out.

“I should tell you that I’m getting married, or rather forced into getting married,” Izanami added. “Mother and father tried to disguise it as giving me a chance to get to know my potential suitor since I can’t really marry him yet, but I know what’s going to happen. As soon as I turn sixteen I’ll be marrying someone I barely know. At least the guys not a total jackass though, which makes it bearable.”

The one silver lining to this whole arranged marriage thing was that at least Natsumi was somewhat of a decent guy. While his intentions were clear with her, at least he wasn’t just using her or misleading her with her emotions.

“Mother and father seem to be taking some serious consideration into my future. They basically have everything mapped out for me. It’s really annoying, actually, since they’re not letting me have any choices anymore. I’m just hoping that they somehow change their minds so I can actually do what I want to do, much like what Akira Hayashi did,” Izanami said.

Thinking of her old relative made Izanami realise just how similar they really were in their situation, since Akira was forced into an arranged marriage just like Izanami was. The whole situation was really unfair to Izanami, but it wasn’t like she was in any position to actually do anything about it.

“Speaking of which, I actually found out what mother and father meant by never wanting us to be like her. Turns out, she’d actually betrayed her family’s wishes after they organised an arranged marriage for her. To make it even more interesting, she’d actually fallen in love with someone from the Northern Water Tribe, which made it even worse. It’s kind of funny how similar our situations are.” Izanami continued.

In times like this, Izanami really wished that Kazu was here to listen to her struggles, just like he had always been for her in the past. This was really when Izanami started to miss her brother and longed for him to be there with her.

“I know you can’t really hear me, but pretending you can just really helps me sometimes. Even when I don’t visit you, I pretend that I’m talking to you with myself just to be able to let it out. Just because I have Azula doesn’t mean I can tell her everything, since there are things that I haven’t necessarily told her that I really shouldn’t. Those are things I certainly wouldn’t tell our parents either. Speaking of which, I should probably head back home so that they don’t start getting up on my case. I promise I’ll try and visit soon,” Izanami finished.

Giving Kazu’s grave one last glance, Izanami picked herself back up and forced herself to leave the graveyard no matter how much she wished she could just stay there and let it all go. There was so much coming Izanami’s way, so much that she wish she didn’t have to deal with but knew she had to.

~*•°•*~

On the eve of the eclipse, Izanami found herself with very little to keep herself occupied. Since learning about her parents intentions to put her into battle, Izanami had been training harder than she ever had before. Knowing that she had her brothers reputation to live up to, Izanami was feeling nervous about the impending invasion. But Izanami knew that her nerves weren’t as big as Azula’s leading up to that all-day war meeting.

Upon Azula’s request, Izanami had waited all day at the palace while the meeting took place. That was probably the first time that Izanami had ever really been left to herself in the palace, and it was a bit awkward, given the looks she received from the other staff members. Before the meeting was scheduled to finish, Izanami headed to the Royal Chambers where Azula wanted her to be. Much to Izanami’s surprise, she found Mai already waiting there slouched against a pillar.

“What are you doing here?” Izanami asked.

“Waiting for Zuko,” she replied.

“Oh, he’s in there too?” Izanami stated. “Azula didn’t make it seem like he would be involved too.”

“Of course she didn’t,” Azula muttered.

“So, how are you guys doing?” Izanami inquired, genuinely curious as to how Mai and Zuko’s relationship was going after what happened at Ember Island.

Mai shrugged, “We’re fine. Something seems to be bugging him lately and he won’t tell me what. I wish that Zuko would just tell me stuff like I tell him.”

“I’m sure he has a good reason for keeping it to himself,” Izanami reasoned, not sure how to be a relationship guide.

Before their conversation could continue any longer, the doors to the Royal Chambers opened and the generals made their way out. That gave Izanami the impression that the meeting was over and sure enough, it wasn’t long before Azula and Zuko came out as well. While Mai went off with Zuko, Izanami quickly snagged Azula once she was done with talking to the other generals.

“How was it?” Izanami asked eagerly.

“Well, it didn’t end with me having to face an Agni Kai,” Azula replied.

“Or Zuko,” Izanami added, staring off at Mai and Zuko as they glanced up at his father’s portrait.

“Zuzu was actually pretty useful in there, which was surprising,” Azula admitted. “But I definitely proved why I am the superior sibling.”

“And why is that?” Izanami inquired.

“Because I came up with the plan to burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground,” Azula proclaimed.

Izanami’s eyes widened, “What?”

“On the day of Sozin’s Comet, father is going to use it’s power to wipe out the Earth Kingdom, since great-grandfather Sozin used it to wipe out the Air Nomads,” Azula explained.

“Is that really necessary?” Izanami questioned.

“Yes, it is. Even though Ba Sing Se is under our control, the Earth Kingdom is still our greatest threat to claiming victory in the war. Once they’re finished with, it will be all too easy to make the world ours,” Azula reasoned.

“Wow, that’s a lot to take in,” Izanami murmured.

“And it was all my idea,” Azula boasted. “You should’ve seen how proud father was of me. I just gave him the victory for the Fire Nation on a silver platter.”

“Yeah, you did,” Izanami whispered.

Luckily for Izanami, Azula was too busy boasting about her success to notice how withdrawn Izanami had suddenly become. In Izanami’s opinion, the idea of burning the Earth Kingdom to the ground was a horrifying one, and it shocked Izanami what length the Fire Nation was going to win the war. And the fact that Azula was so willing just to waste millions of innocent lives just for her father’s approval made Izanami’s skin crawl.

Unfortunately for Izanami, she wasn’t in any position to disagree with her friend’s tactics, so all she could do was just sit there and act like she was supportive of this plan, even though that was far from the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry for posting this late but I started writing it late and I just wanted to get this out while I still could since I didn’t want to wait any more than I already have. So, it looks like Izanami’s gonna get in on some action next chapter which will be on the day of the eclipse but she also seems to not be behind Azula in every which way like in the past. Leave me with your thoughts and theories and you’ll find out if you’re right or wrong in the next chapter :).


	29. In the Thick of Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Barely seven chapters ago Azula and Izanami were busy conquering the Earth Kingdom and now they’re off to face the invasion together. This chapter is a bit iffy with me since it’s basically just the entire battle told in Izanami’s POV without any real substance so I don’t know how I feel about it. It’s obvious that this chapter takes place during the Day of Black Sun Part One and Two and I hope that you guys enjoy it.

On the first day of the eighth month of the superior military monkey year, the Day of Black Sun arrived. When day finally broke, Izanami found herself situated at the Fire Nation Grand Plaza along with all of the other top military elites. Knowing that she was about to take part in one of the greatest battles in recent history was enough to send a wave of nerves through Izanami. This was without a doubt the most nerve-racking moment of Izanami’s life so far and to make it worse, Azula wasn’t even going to be there to get her through it.

While Izanami would be at the forefront of the action, Azula was waiting at the secret underground bunker in case the Avatar and his friends managed to figure out that was where the Fire Lord was. They had all but assumed that once their enemies had figured out that there was nobody in the Capital City that they would then try finding where he was actually hiding. Everyone else had been shipped off to wait at one of the nearby islands while the main important figures hid in the bunker. Even though the Fire Nation was being invaded, Fire Lord Ozai still needed to be in a place where he could lead them.

Although Izanami wouldn’t be taking part in any of the major fighting, she was still going to play an important role in the invasion. She would be acting as the reinforcements so in case anyone needed anything, Izanami was there to give whatever it was to them. At the same time, Izanami was expected to step in and defend her country if it was required of her. For her own sake, Izanami was hoping that she wouldn’t have to use force against anyone who wasn’t asking for it. But if it came down to it, Izanami was willing to do what she needed to in order to protect herself. Since her father would be taking part in the invasion, Izanami was just hoping that she’d be able to pull through without attracting any unwanted attention to herself.

Out of nowhere, a loud bell sound suddenly went off which meant to alert them of any intruders presence. If Izanami was being completely honest, she was actually surprised that they had shown up since the whole time she had been apprehensive that they would see their plan through to the end. Sure enough, five objects emerged from the water and their attacks came out for battle while being ambushed with explosives. At first, Izanami was amazed at how they had managed to get themselves into the Royal Plaza before she wondered what on earth they had travelled in, since they didn’t look like any vehicles Izanami had seen before.

“Everyone, get into positions!” a voice boomed over all of the chaos.

That was enough to snap Izanami out of her brief daze and back into action, since it was time for her to play her part and do what was expected. There was a lot writing on how Izanami performed today and she didn’t want to give her parents anymore reasons to be angry with her. After the way she acted at dinner the other night, her parents had been giving her the stink eye and Izanami was just hoping that she could do something to get them off her back.

It seemed as though their opposition had come in swinging with full force, since they seemed to have these earthbending tanks that Izanami had also never seen before. To think she thought that the Fire Nation was the most innovative country with their battle strategies. What came even more surprising was when a large figure of vines suddenly emerged from the water, using it’s arms to grab hold of their tanks and slamming them against each other. That certainly wasn’t something that you saw in every battle.

Luckily for Izanami, she wasn’t anywhere near that chaos when it happened as she made her way down to the ground before joining the rest of the soldiers with her reinforcements. When Izanami’s nerves started creeping back in, she chose to push them away and focus on the job at hand, remember Azula’s words of wisdom before they parted ways. This would probably be the first and only time that Izanami would actually take Azula’s advice, but given the situation that she was in, she could certainly use it.

On her right, Izanami could see a small figure in blue disarm one of their soldiers on the rhinos before taking charge. Upon recognising it as the Water Tribe boy whom was friends with the Avatar, Izanami looked around to see if she could spot the Avatar anywhere nearby. When she didn’t find him, Izanami figured that they had either sent him off to face Ozai on his own or that he really had died and that they were just making the most of the opportunity that the eclipse presented to them.

When Izanami noticed that the Water Tribe boy and another warrior had taken out their soldiers, Izanami quickly rushed over to their aid as she did what was expected of her and got them back on their feet. Once she was dismissed, Izanami noticed the waterbender and her brother boarding their bison before taking off into the air. At first, Izanami didn’t know what it was that they were doing until a loud explosion came from one of their battlements and then another.

“They’re taking out the battlements!” Izanami yelled to anyone that could hear her.

Either because nobody heard what she was saying or they didn’t care enough, Izanami’s words were ignored. Knowing that their battlements were imperative for the Fire Nations success, Izanami knew that she’d have to think of something to give them the upper hand. Although Izanami wasn’t exactly thrilled about taking part in the war, she didn’t want to risk the consequences that would come for her from the other side, even if she did feel like she deserved them.

Noticing that the invasion force was slowly making their way towards the end of the plaza, Izanami knew that she had to do something. Thinking quickly, Izanami ran towards the plaza entrance on the ground and unleashed a powerful blast of firebending to create a wall of fire to defend her people. Even though Izanami didn’t necessarily agree with what her people believed in or how they acted, they were still her people and she was obligated to defend them.

That seemed to be enough to draw their enemies back for a fair bit, until their earthbenders started launching earth over the fire to bring it down. At one point, Izanami noticed that the bison landed back on the ground before glancing around to see that almost all of their battlements had been taken out. A few moments ticked by before the earthbending tanks rearranged themselves and the Water Tribe boy jumped back onto the bison.

“Charge!” he yelled.

The invasion force did just that as they headed towards the tower that blocked them from heading to the Capital City. Much to Izanami’s frustration, her firebending trick seemed to do nothing as the earthbenders quickly used their earthbending to make a path while the waterbenders used their bending to put it out. Though, Izanami couldn’t help but notice how their waterbenders were hardly wearing any clothes. Either that was some weird battle strategy or that was how they actually dressed. Izanami was leaning more towards the latter.

With their opponents heading towards them in full force, Izanami was beginning to worry that despite them obviously outnumbering them, they were going to be able to undermine them. Fearing for her safety, Izanami started launching some of her own attacks at the approaching vessels to stop them, but not to hurt anybody. All of Izanami’s actions came from her desire to protect herself and there was never any pain intended to be inflicted on others.

Their assault continued on the tower until they managed to break through the force, giving them access to the Capital City. As much as Izanami knew that Azula was prepared to face them if she needed to and that Ozai was safely hidden in the volcano, she still worried about the invasion and what it would mean for her. If the other side won, it would be the end of everything as Izanami knew it. If they won, it would just be business as usual before preparing for the final assault with Sozin’s Comet.

For a few moments, everything seemed to blur itself out for Izanami as she acted purely on instinct and what she thought was right for her in that moment. The invasion force seemed to be gaining more ground on them as their troops went past the tower and started heading towards the volcano. Before the invasion Izanami had complete confidence that they’d be able to handle whatever they had to throw at them but now, Izanami wasn’t so sure. She could see the worry on even the strongest generals faces as they had clearly underestimated their opponents.

An object flying in the sky caught Izanami’s attention, and it wasn’t long before she realised that it wasn’t just any object; it was the _Avatar_. He seemed to be very much alive and well. If Izanami was being completely honest, the first feeling she felt was _relief_. Relief that he wasn’t dead and that Azula hadn’t killed him. That relief soon turned to fear when Izanami realised how much of a threat that he now posed to their livelihoods. If Izanami had to guess why he was here, she would think because he’s realised that Fire Lord Ozai is nowhere in sight when in reality, he’s right underneath him.

After his initial arrival, the Avatar seemed to lay dormant for a few moments before emerging into the sky on his bison. When Izanami realised that he was heading towards the volcano, she knew that they had to be looking for Ozai was potentially hiding. Even though Izanami had full faith that Azula could take care of herself, she was still worried about how Azula would cope without having her bending since it was something that she relied so heavily on in combat.

Worrying about Azula made Izanami stop worrying about herself, as that saw her loose focus on the battle at hand which made her fail to realise that she was quickly surrounded. Everything happened so quickly after that as Izanami desperately tried to protect herself. This wasn’t how she wanted things to turn out – she didn’t want herself getting involved in the heat of the battle yet here she was. The only way for Izanami to protect herself was to fight back, so even though she didn’t want to that was exactly what she did.

Unfortunately for Izanami, that only seemed to work against her as they realised the threat she posed and sought to get her out of the equation. Despite managing to withstand her opponents for a few minutes, the reality of the situation soon became too overwhelming for Izanami and she found herself stunned by the pressure which was enough for them to get her right where they wanted her and take her out. With one swift blow to the head by an unforeseen attack, Izanami was down and out, and although she wouldn’t admit it, she was glad to out of action, even if her fate went unknown to her.

~*•°•*~

When Izanami found herself regaining consciousness, she was relieved to find herself not in the clutches of the enemy but in some sort of medical ward. There was a moment of panic when Izanami feared what had happened to her, but when she realised that she was safely in the hands of the Fire Nation she knew that it had been alright. Looking around, Izanami could see that there were a few injured soldiers lying around her but none of them looked that bad compared to what she thought the possibilities could’ve been.

Deciding to find out what was going on, Izanami turned her head around only to feel a splitting sensation of pain as she remembered that was where she had been hit. Immediately Izanami went to feel the damage that had been done, only to feel a bandage wrapped around her head. Nobody else in the room seemed to notice her presence, but that was until the curtains were pulled apart and _Azula_ waltzed in.

Dozens of thoughts quickly entered Izanami’s mind. What had happened? Had they won? Had everything turned out the way they expected it to? As Azula slowly approached her, Izanami noticed how frustrated her friend looked, so she had to assume that not everything turned out the way that Azula wanted it.

“Az, what happened?” Izanami asked weakly.

“You’ll be happy to know that it was a success for the Fire Nation. If there had been anymore time on the eclipse, they could’ve had us but I played my part brilliantly in distracting the Avatar when he came in search of father,” Azula explained.

“That’s good, I guess,” Izanami murmured as she lied back down on her bed.

“Not everyone played their part brilliantly though,” Azula muttered.

“I’m sorry, Az. Everything just got the better of me,” Izanami apologised, thinking that Azula was referring to her.

“I’m not referring to you, Izana. I’m referring to Zuzu,” Azula snapped.

“What did he do?” Izanami wondered, since Azula had been sure to make it so that Zuko didn’t have any important part to play today in case he messed it up.

“As of today, Zuzu is a no-good Agni forsaken _traitor_ ,” Azula hissed.

Izanami’s eyes widened, realising what that meant for Azula, “What happened?”

“During the eclipse, he went to see father and told him everything. By everything I mean that it was me who had shot down the Avatar in Ba Sing Se and that he was going to leave the Fire Nation to teach him firebending,” Azula replied.

“Didn’t think he had it in him,” Izanami commented.

Azula scoffed, “Hardly. He went to see father during the eclipse when he was powerless instead of having the courage to do it without the eclipse. To his credit, he did stay until the sun came up before doing something I’d never heard of.”

“What?” Izanami questioned eagerly.

“He redirected fathers lightning right back at him. No doubt something he learned from uncle,” Azula answered. “Oh, and get this. Uncle has also escaped from prison too.”

“How?” Izanami’s eyes almost bulged out of her head. “There was no way he could’ve done that during the eclipse without his firebending.”

“Apparently he did. According to the guards who let it happen, he was like a ‘one man army’ and just destroyed his cell,” Azula replied.

“What does your father think about Zuko leaving?” Izanami asked cautiously.

“That’s the worst part. Fathers furious at Zuzu for turning traitor, but he’s even more furious at me for _lying_ to him. This is exactly why I needed to keep him close in case something like this happened. I thought that Mai would be enough to keep him here, but obviously I was wrong,” Azula ranted.

“Do you think that Mai knows about this?” Izanami queried.

Azula shook her head, “He had the nerve to stand up to father like that but he couldn’t even face Mai since he left her with a lousy letter explaining his betrayal.”

“I’m sure she’s not happy about that,” Izanami quipped.

“Of course, she’s not. Mai is furious. She doesn’t understand why he did it, but she did say that he had been distant with her when it came to talking about things like the war. Other than that he showed no signs of disinterest in the Fire Nation,” Azula said.

“I guess this puts you in a difficult spot now,” Izanami put a hand on Azula’s shoulder.

“Yes, but it doesn’t matter,” Azula shook it off. “I’ll just have to work hard to make up for my mistake and gain fathers praise. It’s not something that I haven’t done before. As for Zuzu, he might be long gone now but I’m confident we’ll come across him again and when we do, I’ll be sure to make him pay for betraying us. For betraying _me_.”

“Well, my performance today was pretty dismal. I doubt that my father is going to be happy with me which is only going to extend to my mother,” Izanami changed the subject.

“On the contrary. According to what I’ve heard, you were a quick thinker and stuck to your role while acting fast under pressure. While your performance was not extemporary, it was certainly commendable with it being your first major battle,” Azula reassured her.

“Great,” Izanami muttered, suddenly feeling even more depressed about her performance.

If that was how Azula felt, then some of that sentiment would undoubtedly be shared with her parents and it would only result in them putting even more pressure on Izanami to do things that she didn’t want to. With the invasion now over and done with, Izanami would again have to deal with the distractions of her own life. Given everything that Izanami already had going against her, how long was it going to be before she finally got to do something that she wanted on her own terms?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I’m not entirely sold on this chapter but if you guys can think of something good to say about it let me know in the comments, lol. I could really use some extra something with this story so if anybody has some useful feedback it would be appreciated.


	30. Reasons to Doubt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s funny how all of my main stories now end in the same number, even though I hardly started posted them at the same time given my frantic update schedule. This chapter takes place following the Day of Black Sun, so there are a few time skips in between it given what happens.

What happened after the Day of Black Sun was a bit of a mess for Izanami. Once she had been deemed well enough to perform her regular duties, Izanami was throw back into her regular life, which had since been disrupted due to the events at the Day of Black Sun. Since majority of the Royal Plaza had been destroyed, it was currently undergoing renovations to restore it to its natural glory after the assault it receive. Despite only being a small army, the invasion force had certainly left the Fire Nation worse for wear and had come the closest that anyone had to conquering the country.

Since everything had gone according to plan for her, now Izanami just had to remain put as her parents decided what to do with her next. With Sozin’s Comet quickly approaching, Izanami knew that her parents would be pushing her to really prove herself then, since that day would be the ultimate test for any firebender. Unfortunately for Azula, despite everything going to plan, she had received a major shock when news of Zuko’s betrayal spread.

To say that Azula was furious at that was an understatement. In all of the years that Izanami had known Azula, she had never seen her friend so angry before. Some of that anger was also mixed fear, since Zuko had admitted Azula’s failure to kill the Avatar to their father. One thing that Izanami had come to realise in the few times that she was in Ozai’s presence was that the man didn’t tolerate failure whatsoever. Luckily for Azula, she didn’t burn and banish him like he did to Zuko. It seemed as though he was able to overlook her unavoidable mistake and had given her a lenient punishment compared to what he gave his son.

As for Izanami, she had received nothing but praise from her parents for how she had performed during the invasion, which was a surprise to Izanami since she thought she messed it all up. But considering it was only her first time being out on a real battlefield, her parents had been somewhat understanding. Some of the stuff that her parents were saying about her was slightly exaggerated, and she didn’t want this to bring anymore unwanted attention to herself.

Since Azula had been forbidden to see Izanami for a few days as part of her punishment from her father, Izanami was left to deal with her parents and Natsumi’s persistent advances. It seemed as though marriage was definitely something that Izanami would be seeing in her near future, since her parents had even started discussing performing a bonding ceremony with Natsumi to force more of a connection between them. Bonding ceremonies were typically done before children were born or in their youth, and it was solidified by asking the fire gods for their blessing and luck on the relationship.

The whole idea just seemed ludicrous to Izanami, and she had accidently given herself away by saying that if it stopped her parents from doing so, she would marry Natsumi when she turned sixteen. That seemed to get them to settle for a bit, but they still seemed insistent on having Natsumi and his family as a part of their lives, even though Izanami didn’t want them.

Thinking about Natsumi’s family made Izanami wonder about her own family. Growing up, Izanami thought that her parents had just met and fallen in love with each other but given how forceful they were being with her love life, Izanami was beginning to think otherwise. After doing some more research into her parents backgrounds, she found that they came from strict noble family’s and wouldn’t have been surprised if an arranged marriage was what had brought them together.

So when her father was out for the day and that left her in the company of her mother, Izanami figured that she might as well try getting the answers that she craved from her mother. Between her parents, her mother had always been the most nurturing towards her but that had changed since her return home.

“Is everything alright, Izanami?” Hikari asked her daughter as she noticed the distracted look on her face.

“Actually, mother, I was wondering if it would be okay if I could ask you about you and father,” Izanami began hesitantly, not wanting to overstep any boundaries.

“What would you need to know?” Hikari queried.

“Well, I just wanted to know how you two met and, you know, fell in love and stuff. Was it like those love at first sight clichés or was it more like Natsumi and I?” Izanami wondered.

Hikari sighed, “That, my dear, is very complicated. While it is true that the union between your father and I was arranged between our family’s, I was more than happy to settle down and be his wife. Your father certainly treated me right, just like any man should treat his wife and that was how I was raised to be married.”

“So, in other words you settled for him?” Izanami clarified.

Hikari glared at Izanami, “I did not ‘settle’ for your father. We have always been happy together.”

“Mother, c-can I ask you s-something else?” Izanami stammered.

“That depends on what the question is,” Hikari huffed.

Izanami gulped, “What changed between us? You used to be my mother and treated me like I was your daughter. Now you’re just treating me like I’m some trophy.”

“I beg your pardon!” Hikari exclaimed.

“It’s true. Before I left with Azula, you had no problems with letting me do what I wanted and had no problems with backing me up against father. Now you just let him do whatever he wants with me, even though it’s not what I want,” Izanami proclaimed.

“Things have changed, my dear,” Hikari sighed. “In the time that you were gone, your father made me realise how important it was to secure our family’s future with this war, especially when your brother still hadn’t returned home. Losing him had hit us even more, so although I was hesitant about arranging your future with Natsumi, your father had convinced me that it was what was best for you.”

“Even if I’m not happy?” Izanami asked.

“What matters the most to us is that you’re safe and sound where you belong,” Hikari replied, not really answering her question but doing so at the same time. “That is why I’m going to try stopping your father from putting you out there on that battlefield. Your future lies somewhere far more enticing than out there for the short lived glory.”

“Well, this was fun and all. I’m just gonna go to my room now,” Izanami mumbled.

After hearing what her mother had to say, Izanami was now firmly convinced was that all of her problems stemmed from her fathers meddling ways. It was him who had convinced her mother to start treating her differently and write her entire future for her. Admittedly, Izanami wasn’t surprised at all that this was the result of her fathers thinking since he had always made things difficult for her when she was younger.

But given the thinking that her mother had, Izanami knew that she would be the lone voice against her father and would have to fight hard for his approval in anything that she did. If she was being completely honest, Izanami didn’t think that gaining her fathers approval would be possible at all, but it was certainly something that she was willing to try. Maybe then it would mean that she wouldn’t be forced into a marriage with someone she saw no future with whatsoever.

~*•°•*~

Despite the fact that Azula was supposed to be being punished, she had managed to convince Ozai to let it slide which saw Izanami see her friend again sooner rather than later. There were clearly some things that Azula wanted to discuss with her and although Izanami would never say them out loud, there were some things that she would like to discuss with Azula as well. When Izanami arrived at the palace, she found Azula sitting in her room as she scribbled away at her desk.

“What’s up, Az?” Izanami asked.

“Just jotting down some plans,” Azula replied as she quickly put her papers together.

“What did you want to see me for?” Izanami inquired as she sat down.

“I just needed someone to vent to after everything that’s happened and you’re the only person I trust with this sort of information,” Azula admitted.

A twinge of guilt swarmed through Izanami as she realised the weight of Azula’s words. It was hard for Azula to trust anyone, and for her to trust Izanami with her innermost feelings said a lot. The guilt came from the fact that there were certain things that Izanami wouldn’t even tell Azula.

“You know you can tell me anything,” Izanami said cautiously, since it was true. While she wouldn’t necessarily trust Azula with certain information, she would never betray Azula’s trust like that.

“Things have just become so messy since Zuzu has left. We tried tracking him down, but he made his exit pretty quick and unnoticeable. We’re fairly certain that he escaped on one of the war balloons since we seem to be missing one from our stock,” Azula explained.

“Do you have any idea where he’s gone?” Izanami questioned.

“Obviously in search of the Avatar. We tried following them but they’re too fast on that shaggy beast of theirs. They could’ve gone anywhere for all we know and if anyone could find them, it would be Zuzu since after all, he was the first person to find the Avatar,” Azula answered.

“Have you tried interrogating the prisoners?” Izanami inquired, referring to the people from the invasion force who had stayed behind and surrendered.

“That’s what I suggested. Father actually thought that it was a smart idea, which helped him ease off on my punishment. So far, we haven’t gotten anything out of them but we’ll soon be transferring their leader to the Boiling Rock,” Azula replied.

“How is Mai handling everything?” Izanami asked, genuinely worrying how their usually emotionless friend was handling this turn of events. There was no doubt in Izanami’s mind that Mai cared for Zuko, so she would’ve had to have felt betrayed by his actions.

“Mai is furious at him. I’ve never actually seen Mai this angry before, since you would know just as well as I do how rare it is for her to show emotion like that. There’s no doubt that she feels betrayed by Zuzu’s actions, which I’m certainly going to use to my advantage. Now I can make sure that Mai’s loyalty lies firmly with me,” Azula said.

“What do you mean?” Izanami wondered.

“The closer Mai got to Zuko, the more I doubted where her loyalty really lied. If it came down to choosing between Zuzu and I then, she would’ve more than likely chosen him. But now that he’s broken her heart, I can make sure that she stays with me no matter what,” Azula proclaimed.

“Don’t you think that it’s kind of _wrong_ to take advantage of Mai’s hurt like that?” Izanami asked.

“Of course not. I’m not going to risk losing Mai’s loyalty to someone like Zuzu. If Mai does have the nerve to betray me even after what Zuzu did to her, then she’s a bigger idiot than I thought,” Azula insisted.

“What if trying that only pushes Mai away from you even more?” Izanami pointed out, not liking the idea of Azula manipulating Mai’s emotions like that.

“She won’t. You know me, Izanami. I’m an expert manipulator,” Azula dismissed her concerns with a smirk.

“That you are,” Izanami mumbled, beginning to think that Azula was manipulating her right now.

“Thanks to Zuzu, I now have to clean up a mess that should’ve been his. Father has never been this disappointed in me before, Izana. You should’ve seen the look on his face and the way he said it only made it even worse. No matter what I have to do, I need to get back into my fathers good graces. I might’ve gotten off the hook for now, but this is something that father won’t forget. I will forever be reminded of my failure and how it almost cost us our victory,” Azula ranted.

“Calm down, Az. I’m sure everything will turn out the way it’s supposed to,” Izanami tried comforting her obviously distraught friend.

“What if this is how things are supposed to be? What if my life is about to fall apart before my very eyes? I’m not sure if I can handle that, Izana,” Azula quietly admitted.

“You’re Princess Azula, the greatest firebender in the world. If anyone can change the path of history, it’s you,” Izanami reassured her.

Azula smirked, “You’re right. If fate has other plans for me than I’m going to try my hardest to make sure that I get my way. Nothing will stop me from achieving my goals and I’ll do whatever it takes to achieve them.”

“Even if it means crossing those closest to you?” Izanami asked carefully.

“Sometimes in life, Izana, you have to make difficult decisions. If that means cutting ties with people who were once your greatest supporters, than that’s what you have to do. A true sign of a great leader is being able to cut all emotional ties since those will only hold you back in the end,” Azula said.

“Right…” Izanami trailed off, unsure of how to respond to that.

For the past few months, Izanami had seen a different side of Azula. The kind of side that was willing to do whatever it took to achieve her goals. Sure, Azula had always been like that but now she really seemed to care about nothing other than her success, and that included Izanami. If it came down to it, Izanami was willing to bet that Azula would be willing to sacrifice even her to get her way, and that realisation hurt the most of them all.

Then again, it wasn’t like Izanami was completely innocent since Azula was at least honest with her. Azula didn’t know that Izanami was keeping her true feelings about certain things to herself, mostly since Azula would be livid if she found out how Izanami truly felt about that. Sometimes it really was best to keep your secrets to yourself, especially if they could end up getting you into more trouble than you could handle.

~*•°•*~

In the days that followed, Izanami grew increasingly worried about Azula’s well-being. She seemed to be putting more pressure on herself than ever before and was beginning to snap at the slightest things that she wouldn’t if she was thinking clearly. Sometimes Izanami caught Azula muttering to herself, and although she wasn’t sure what it was about she knew that it wasn’t good for her to be acting like this. When Azula was in front of others, she put on the front of the perfect princess that she always acted like. But when she was alone with Mai, Ty Lee and Izanami, it was a different story.

There were a few times where Izanami had tried suggesting to Azula to take things easy, but Azula wasn’t having any of it. Knowing that Azula wasn’t exactly the kind of person to change her routine, Izanami figured that it was just best to let Azula handle herself and to intervene if she really had to. But that didn’t mean that Izanami wasn’t going to voice her concerns, which was why she had secretly met up with Mai and Ty Lee without Azula.

“What’s this about?” Mai asked as she sat down at the place where they had agreed to meet.

“Yeah, where’s Azula?” Ty Lee inquired since she was under the impression that Azula would be joining them too.

“Azula’s not coming,” Izanami stated.

“So she sent you to do her work for her? Typical,” Mai scoffed.

“I actually wanted to talk to you guys about her,” Izanami said.

“Why? What’s wrong?” Ty Lee questioned.

“Have you guys… Noticed anything…” Izanami trailed off as she made sure that nobody was around to hear what she was saying. _“Odd_ about Azula.”

“Define odd,” Mai crossed her arms.

“She just hasn’t seemed like herself recently. She’s been more agitated recently and is putting too much pressure on herself,” Izanami voiced her concerns.

“Yeah, I was wondering that too. Last week I visited her and I caught her talking to herself. When I asked what she was doing, she said that she was talking to somebody else but I knew that there was nobody around,” Ty Lee admitted.

“So she’s finally lost it, huh,” Mai observed.

“Mai, this is serious,” Izanami snapped. “If Azula is in trouble then we need to help her.”

“Why should we?” Mai asked.

“Because we’re her friends,” Izanami replied as if it was obvious.

Mai scoffed, “In case you haven’t realised it, Izanami we only hang out together because our parents want us to. I wouldn’t exactly classify us as friends.”

“What about you, Ty?” Izanami asked, even though she knew that Mai was partly right. There really wasn’t anything genuine about their friendship, but Izanami did care about these girls.

“I want to help Azula because she is my friend. I don’t want to see her end up like Zuko,” Ty Lee said before grimacing as she looked at Mai. “Sorry, Mai. I forgot he was a touchy subject.”

“It doesn’t matter. He made his choice,” Mai muttered, although Izanami could sense the hurt in her voice.

“What should we do, Izana?” Ty Lee asked.

“I’m not sure,” Izanami sighed. “We need to approach this cautiously because you guys know as much as I do that Azula isn’t the kind of person to admit that anything is wrong with her. But we can’t let her slip up even more, since the worse Azula gets makes things worse for us.”

“You have a point,” Mai agreed.

“We should just keep a closer eye on Azula to catch her if she messes up. When she does, we should confront her about it instead of letting it slide. Other than that, we should just be supportive of her decisions but still try to keep her from doing anything reckless,” Izanami stated.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Ty Lee conceded.

“I’ll stick around for now but if Azula suddenly goes bat shit crazy, I’m not sticking around to pick up those pieces. She certainly wouldn’t do the same for me given how she’s trying to manipulate my feelings towards Zuko,” Mai said.

“How’d you know that?” Izanami inquired.

“She’s not as subtle as she used to be anymore, which I guess is another reason to be worried about her,” Mai replied before glancing at Izanami. “How did you know that was what she was doing?”

Izanami grimaced, “She told me she wanted to make sure that you hated Zuko since you were mad at him. I thought that was a bad idea to manipulate your feelings like that, but she was insistent on doing that.”

“Classical Azula, not caring about whoever she’s messing with,” Mai grumbled.

“I’m sure that if Azula wasn’t feeling how she was now that she wouldn’t feel the need to do this. She feels as though she’s got something to prove after failing Ozai. I will never understand her dedication to him, but she just wants to keep as many people on her side,” Izanami reasoned.

“She told you this?” Mai narrowed her eyes.

“Not specifically, but I was able to fill in the blanks myself. We just can’t give her any reason to doubt our loyalty, since maybe then that will be enough to keep her in check,” Izanami stated.

“We better get going. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starting to worry that Azula might be spying on us and I don’t want to get into anymore trouble with her,” Ty Lee whispered as she got up to go.

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Mai muttered as she too got up and left.

Crossing her arms with a huff, Izanami leaned back as she thought about Mai and Ty Lee’s words. If she was being honest, Izanami was somewhat hoping that only she was noticing the change in Azula’s behaviour, but it seemed as though Mai and Ty Lee had noticed this too. Suddenly getting the feeling that she was being watched, Izanami glanced around to see if she noticed anything peculiar, only to not.

Thinking that she was better off heading home than sitting out here, Izanami picked herself up and headed off home, with Ty Lee’s words of concern echoing in the back of her head. It wouldn’t come as a surprise to Izanami if Azula had sent someone to watch them, since that sounded just like something that she would do. Now Izanami wasn’t feeling so secure about where she stood with Azula, and would have to take some extra precautions to ensure that Azula had no reasons to doubt her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It seems like things are beginning to unravel for Azula, which means you guys should know what’s coming next. Azula’s nerves came from the fact that I didn’t think that Ozai would take too kindly to being lied to by his favourite child, combined with Azula’s failure as well. The bit with Izanami and her mother was inspired by the fact that I seemed to refer to their relationship in a positive light in the earlier chapters, which isn’t really how its been portrayed since Izanami has returned home.


	31. Wrath of Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just like I have with all of my other stories, I’ve planned the entire outline for this one and I can confidently say that this story will stand at 50 chapters in total. Because of this, and the other stories that I have going on right now, I want to try and squeeze in some extra updates so if you guys can give me double the reviews I can make that happen. This chapter takes place during the Boiling Rock Part 1 and 2, which will lead to the first major confrontation of the story.

Just as Izanami had feared, Azula only seemed to become even more on edge than ever. It was hard to be around her and not feel like you were walking on eggshells. As hard as it was to watch Azula unravel before her eyes, Izanami knew that she was in no position to help her friend since Azula would certainly not accept it. The situation was almost difficult to explain, since it wasn’t like Azula had gone completely crazy although Izanami could see her heading in that direction.

After meeting up with Mai and Ty Lee, Izanami had kept a close eye on her surroundings and started feeling a lot more uncomfortable whenever she left her house. At one point, Izanami had brought up her concerns with Azula and saw a flare of anger go across her face. A few days later when Izanami arrived at the palace, she overheard Azula arguing with someone for being ‘too obvious’ which confirmed Izanami’s suspicions that Azula was spying on them.

It hurt Izanami to know that Azula didn’t trust her as much as she did before. While she still told Izanami plenty of information, she could tell that Azula was holding back on some parts and that was enough for Izanami to know that Azula wasn’t completely with her anymore. To see Azula closing herself off like that hurt Izanami, and she hoped that Azula would be able to get out of this mess okay. Izanami longed for things to be the way they used to be with Azula, but she knew that ship had set sailed months ago.

So when Azula had rather unexpectedly taken Izanami, Mai and Ty Lee away from the Fire Nation for a day on one of the airships, Izanami was nervous about being in Azula’s company for the first real time. For the most part, Izanami had no idea where they were going and for the first time was in the dark just as much as Mai and Ty Lee were, which was unusual since Azula always went to her with any plans before she told them. When they arrived at some sort of volcano, Izanami was even more confused as she had no idea where they were.

“Um, Azula, where exactly are we?” Izanami asked as they stepped off the airship.

“Haven’t you figured it out yet, Izana? We’re at the Boiling Rock,” Azula announced, causing Izanami to widen her eyes as she realised where they were.

“W-what are we doing here, Azula?” Ty Lee stammered nervously.

“We’re here to collect something for father,” Azula replied with a smirk.

“What could your father possibly want from here?” Izanami questioned.

“Just a traitor who thought it was a brilliant idea to sneak into the most secure prison in the Fire Nation,” Azula scoffed.

“Zuko,” Izanami realised.

“Precisely,” Azula stated as she glanced at Mai. “This could also give you the chance to clear the air with Zuko before we bring him back with us.”

“That’s fine with me. I’ve been thinking of a few choice words for him,” Mai muttered.

“Don’t you think it’s strange how Zuko snuck into the Boiling Rock after he exposed himself as a traitor to go off and help the Avatar? I highly doubt that he’s just here because he’s stupid,” Izanami commented.

“You would be right, Izana. I know that there’s a reason why Zuzu has decided to come here, and I intend to find out just what that is before getting as much information from him as I can,” Azula said.

“Let’s just move on with this,” Izanami suggested.

“We’ll take the gondola to the prison before we’ll separate so Mai can have some one on one time with Zuzu. We’ll go pay the Warden a visit,” Azula proclaimed.

Upon boarding the gondola, Izanami glanced at Mai as she tried to figure out just what Mai was thinking about this situation. It wasn’t like Izanami could just ask her, since Mai would never tell her. To add even more insult to injury, Azula had given Mai back the letter that Zuko had left her and Izanami could tell that it was the last thing that Mai wanted to see. While Izanami hadn’t read the letter herself, she’d heard enough from Azula to get a fair idea of what had been said.

When the gondola reached the prison, they were given the royal treatment like they always did whenever they accompanied Azula somewhere. In the five years that Izanami had been friends with Azula, she had grown used to the royal treatment and had never been that fussed over it. But for some reason, getting pampered while visiting a Fire Nation prison was the last thing that Izanami had wanted. Dare she say it, Izanami was almost sick and tired of being treated like she was something special when all she was was the Fire Nation Princesses best friend.

~*•°•*~

After a brief introduction with the Warden’s assistant, Azula took Izanami and Ty Lee off to speak with the Warden while Mai went off to confront Zuko. As it turned out, Mai’s uncle was actually the Warden, which was somewhat of a surprise to Izanami but then again, Mai had never really talked that much about her family. They’d been debriefed on the current situation which was that a group of prisoners had orchestrated a failed escape attempt just a few days ago and a prison guard had been exposed as coming up with the plan.

Part of Izanami had expected the guard to be one of the Avatar’s companions, but she had been surprised when she learned that it was just a regular guard who was of no importance. Guilt swarmed through Izanami when Azula mentioned that this was the prison where the leader of the female warriors that they had apprehended was residing, and Izanami could only imagine the sort of pain that she’d be going through. Since the female warrior had ties to the Avatar, Izanami figured that they might be there to rescue her, since she couldn’t see any other reason why the Avatar would want to come here, if he was even here at all.

Finding the Warden had been easy enough, since he was currently in interrogation with the guard who had supposedly orchestrated the failed escape attempt. Izanami had tried making Azula wait until the Warden was done with whatever he was doing, but Azula didn’t seem to care about Izanami’s suggestion. That was even more proof to Izanami that she had lost value in Azula’s eyes since Azula had always previously taken her thoughts into consideration, only to completely dismiss them now.

“I’m telling you… it wasn’t me!” they heard someone yell from the interrogation room where the Warden was said to be.

“Save your breath!” the heard the Warden snap. “I know you were working together. You threw Chit Sang in the very cooler they used to escape. It was all part of your plan.”

“That was just a coincidence!” the guard insisted.

That was when Azula chose to make her entrance as she opened the door, immediately catching the attention of the prisoner and the guard, but not the Warden as he remained focused on his interrogation.

“Sir, there’s someone to see you,” one of the male guards said as he pointed at Azula.

“Who told you to interrupt me?” the Warden asked angrily.

The Warden turned angrily towards the door, only to for his look to turn into one of shock as he saw who it was before bowing at Azula. All of the guards followed in suit as Azula made her presence known with Izanami and Ty Lee behind her.

“ _I_ did,” Azula proclaimed.

“Princess Azula,” the Warden started as Izanami and Ty Lee walked in. “Ah… It is an honour to welcome you to the Fire Nation’s most exemplary prison,” the Warden stood up. “I didn’t realise you were coming.”

“Who is this?” Azula asked the guard sitting in the chair, even though she already knew the answer.

The Warden glanced at the guard, who looked away as he spoke, “He’s a guard who was involved in a recent and feeble escape attempt.”

“It wasn’t me!” the guard exclaimed.

“Quiet, you!” the Warden snapped angrily.

“You’re wasting your time. That’s not one of them,” Azula said as she crossed her arms and started to leave.

“How do you know?” the Warden asked as he turned around looking surprised and confused as he glanced between the guard and Azula.

“Because I’m a people person,” Azula replied quietly as she smiled sinisterly.

If Izanami wasn’t more taken back than she already was, she was now. After just leaving the Warden like that Izanami didn’t understand the point in speaking to him in the first place since they’d basically achieved nothing by doing so.

“What are we doing now, Azula?” Izanami asked once they left the interrogation room.

Before Azula could respond, they suddenly heard a loud ruckus going past the corridor. Together, they headed towards the commotion to see what was going on, only to see prisoner after prisoner making their way past the guards as they tried to stop them. They then heard loud noises coming from outside as the chaos intensified, making them all wonder what exactly was going on.

“What is the meaning of this chaos?” Azula demanded one of the guards.

“We don’t know. They’re supposed to be on lockdown and now there’s a riot going on,” the guard informed them.

“I smell a plot,” Azula growled.

Part of Izanami agreed with Azula since it was all too strange for something like this to happen when Zuko was supposedly here. But then Izanami remembered that he was probably with Mai right now so she didn’t see what he’d be gaining from this since Mai most likely wouldn’t let him go. Another guard then made their way towards them with a look of dread on their face which instantly told Izanami that whatever they were about to say was bad news.

“The Warden has just been apprehended by a group of prisoners and a guard,” they were informed.

“What prisoners and what guard?” Azula demanded as she roughly shoved the guard against the wall.

“Azula,” Izanami hissed, only to be ignored as Azula tightened her grip on the guard.

“The Kyoshi Warrior leader, Chit Sang, the leader of the invasion force and some kid who’s barely a teenager,” the guard replied.

“Tell me, how did you manage to let my brother and a teenager sneak into what’s supposed to be the most secure place in the Fire Nation?” Azula asked.

“We didn’t notice,” the guard choked out.

“You should all be in fear of your jobs because when my father hears about this he’ll make sure that nobody who allowed this to happen ever works in a high place like this again!” Azula threatened as she released the guard and threw him aside.

“What do we do now?” Ty Lee asked.

“The only way on or off this place is the gondola, correct?” Azula asked the guards.

“Yes. There is no way otherwise,” one of them replied.

“Then we go to the gondola. I’m willing to bet that organising the riot was their way of causing such a distraction that would allow them to seize the Warden and use him as a hostage to get across. Unfortunately for them, it’s not going to work,” Azula growled.

Giving Ty Lee a worried glance, Izanami knew that the other girl was sharing the same concerns as her. Because this was what Azula wanted, Izanami knew that there would be no way out of this for them and that they’d be chasing down the escapees, even if part of Izanami wanted them to escape.

~*•°•*~

Upon arriving at the gondolas, Izanami could see that one was already started to head off and the guards had confirmed that they were holding the Warden hostage. They had arrived just in time to see what looked like Zuko jump into the gondola as went across the lake. Since the guards weren’t going to be cutting the line, the only way to stop the escapees would be to do it themselves.

That was exactly what Azula had in mind as she suddenly snatched a pair of handcuffs from a guard’s belt and ran forward. Behind her, Ty Lee jumped up and onto the cable, running along it towards the gondola. After elevating herself to the line with a fire blast, Azula used the cuffs to attach herself to the cable and propel herself forward. Doing exactly as Azula did, Izanami snatched a pair of handcuffs for herself and followed after Azula and Ty Lee as they approached the retreating gondola.

When they reached the gondola, they were joined by the Water Tribe boy, whose name from what Azula had told her was Sokka and the Kyoshi Warrior leader whose name was Suki along with Zuko. Ty Lee flipped into the air and landed in front of Suki who assumed a battle-ready position while Azula pulled herself up onto the roof and faced Zuko and Sokka along with Izanami. Azula assumed a battle stance and performed a slicing kick, sending blue fire at her opponents, but Zuko blocked it before Sokka lunged forward with a sword which caused Izanami to react by halting his advance with a swift kick of fire.

On the other side of the gondola, Izanami could see that Ty Lee and Suki were evenly matched as they traded blows, the latter blocking the former’s attempts to use chi blocking each time. At one point, Ty Lee was forced to the edge but jumped into the gondola and came out the other side, continuing her attacks while once again amazing Izanami with her flexibility. As Azula and Izanami duelled Sokka and Zuko, Zuko continued to wipe out Azula’s fire blasts and forced Izanami to dodge to the side. Sokka drew her back to the edge with his sword and Zuko went in for a finish, but Azula dodged Zuko’s blast and stayed on the gondola in a plank position. She countered with a blast that went wide, almost striking Suki and Ty Lee who barely managed to dodge it.

Completely oblivious to what was happening anywhere but the top of the gondola, Izanami was stunned when the gondola suddenly rocked back and forth in a sudden stop, disrupting the combatants from their respective duels. The impact caused Izanami to fall off the gondola, only being saved by the points on the side while Sokka slid to the edge of the gondola, but Zuko pulled him in at the last moment. To see what was going on, Ty Lee jumped up to the top of the wire.

“They’re about to cut the line!” Ty Lee yelled.

As she got back upright, Izanami turned around to see that Ty Lee was right and that the guards were working on cutting the line. She shared a worried glance with Ty Lee, although Azula seemed far from it as she noticed another gondola approaching on the other wire, heading inbound.

“Then it’s time to leave,” Azula smirked as she blasted herself up. “Goodbye, Zuko.”

Once Azula reached the other gondola, Ty Lee backflipped to the other gondola and Izanami propelled herself over as well, feeling bad for the others as they would have no way off their gondola that was doomed to fall. When Izanami reached the other gondola, she noticed Ty Lee looking back at Sokka, Suki and Zuko with concern in contrast to Azula’s sadistic smile.

“Azula, we have to do something!” Ty Lee exclaimed.

“Why should we?” Azula crossed her arms.

“Because in case you haven’t realised it, that’s your brother over there and he’s about to fall to his death. If you won’t do something for the others, at least do it for Zuko,” Izanami insisted.

“If they die then so be it. Death would be a far more lenient punishment than what they could’ve received but at least that way it will stop Zuko from disgracing our family name,” Azula dismissed their concerns.

“But what about the Warden? He’s Mai’s uncle,” Izanami argued, desperate to get through to Azula.

“He’s also the person who told them to cut the lines with complete disregard to our safety. I’m sure Mai will understand and will be quite satisfied to see Zuzu’s demise,” Azula smirked.

“I’m not sure about that…” Ty Lee trailed off.

“What are you talking about?” Azula demanded as Ty Lee pointed in the direction below them.

Down below them, they watched in shock as they saw Mai fighting off the guards as they tried to cut the line. The guards were helpless against Mai as she easily overwhelmed them and got rid of the object that was stopping the other gondola from moving, allowing it to keep going up the line.

“What is she doing?” Azula asked angrily.

“The right thing,” Izanami replied, earning a glare from Azula.

“How is allowing a traitor and our enemies to escape the right thing?” Azula asked.

“They don’t deserve to die, Azula!” Izanami exclaimed.

“Izana’s right,” Ty Lee agreed quietly.

Azula shook her head in disgust, “You both need to get your priorities right.”

“What are you going to do to Mai?” Ty Lee asked, fearing for her other friends safety.

“You’ll see,” Azula muttered darkly. “She’s going to regret betraying me.”

Despite wanting to argue with Azula, Izanami knew that there was no point in doing so. Whether she liked it or not, when they landed Mai was going to face the wrath of Azula even though Izanami firmly believed that she didn’t deserve it. What concerned Izanami the most was how willing Azula was to just leave her brother to die, and that the years of friendship that she had with Mai meant nothing anymore.

That was what forced Izanami to realise that if it had come down to it, Azula would do the same to her. She had certainly proved that given her recent behaviour and how little she seemed to trust Izanami nowadays. At the same time, Izanami knew that she was no better than Azula when it came to trust since she had kept her true feelings on certain things hidden for months. As their gondola reached the end, the trio got off of it as they headed towards Mai, who had been apprehended by the guards. No matter what Azula wanted to do to her, Izanami was going to make sure that they both walked away from this okay.

“I hope you’re satisfied with yourself, they’ve escaped,” Azula stated as she faced Mai, pushing Izanami and Ty Lee to the side.

In response to that, Mai just said nothing. She just stood there as the guards held onto her while Azula glared at her. Beside them, Izanami worriedly watched on while Ty Lee looked terrified and concerned at the two.

“Leave us alone,” Azula said.

The guards released Mai and gave the Fire Nation salute before walking away. To Izanami’s surprise, Mai hardly looked like she was afraid as she raised her head a little, looking defiantly at Azula.

“I never expected this from you,” Azula stated.

Standing beside them, Ty Lee looked from one to the others, tears in her eyes as Izanami grabbed hold of her hands, both of them hoping that everything would be okay.

“The thing I don’t understand is “Why?”. Why would you do it? You know the consequences,” Azula scowled.

“I guess you just don’t know people as well as you think you do. You miscalculated. I love Zuko more than I fear you,” Mai proclaimed.

Azula’s intrigued expression contorted into one of absolute rage, “No, _you_ miscalculated! You should feared me more!”

It was almost like everything after that happened in slow motion before Izanami registered what had happened. Azula had angled her fingers to create lightning, and Mai readied one of her stilettos, her eyes narrowed. Before Azula could complete her attack, she was struck twice by Ty Lee, who chi blocked her. Not only did it shock Mai, it completely baffled Izanami and Azula, who dumbfoundedly felt to the ground, paralysed. Even Ty Lee seemed surprised at her actions.

Ty Lee quickly recovered from her own surprise as she ran to a shocked Mai, shaking her from her stupor, “Come on! Let’s get out of here!”

They were then quickly surrounded by guards and captured before they could escape. As for Izanami, she just stood there in complete and utter shock. Of all the things and all the people, she never would’ve expected Mai and Ty Lee to do _this_ to Azula, who was furious at their actions.

“You’re both fools!” Azula seethed angrily, still on the ground before she was helped up by two guards. Mai and Ty Lee were both restrained, looking defiantly at the princess for the first time that Izanami had ever seen.

“What shall we do with them, princess?” one of the guards asked.

“Put them somewhere I’ll never have to see their faces again, and let them rot!” Azula answered with a snarl.

Together, Mai and Ty Lee were taken away by the guards, both of them giving Izanami a look of disbelief at her lack of actions. All Izanami could do was helplessly watch on as the two girls were taken away. It was Azula’s voice who brought her out of her state of shock and disbelief.

“Izana, let’s go. We’re out of here,” Azula ordered as she was helped away by the guards.

Glancing between Mai and Ty Lee and Azula, Izanami knew that she was at a crossroads. Like Mai and Ty Lee, she had a choice to make. She could either stand by Azula and do what she knew was wrong, or for the first time in her life, make a decision that she could live with. Either option would leave severe ramifications, and Izanami knew that when it came down to it, the decision would be made last minute.

“Izana!” Azula snapped. “Get yourself over here _now_. We’re leaving.”

“No,” Izanami finally said, shocking herself at her actions.

 _“NO?_ ” Azula repeated in equal shock.

“No,” Izanami asserted herself as she turned to face Azula. “I’m not going with you, Azula. You can leave, but I’m staying on my own.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying, Izana. You’re confused, that’s all. Just come with me and we’ll sort this out,” Azula insisted almost pleadingly.

“Stop it!” Izanami yelled. “Stop trying to control my life. You might like to think that you can do that, Azula, but newsflash, not everyone can be controlled by you. Look at Mai and Ty Lee. They’re not gonna let you do that anymore and neither am I.”

“You’re supposed to be my friend!” Azula exclaimed.

“Just like Mai and Ty Lee were supposed to be your friends, yet you so easily threw them away after years of friendship and working together. That meant nothing to you, just like I do,” Izanami proclaimed.

“Well, then. I can see that you’ve made your choice,” Azula seethed.

“I have,” Izanami replied, voicing her confidence a lot more than the nerves swirling inside of her.

“Your betrayal leaves me with very little options,” Azula said before glancing at the guards. “Take her away with the other traitors. I want nothing more to do with them, just like they clearly don’t with me.”

“What!” Izanami shrieked as she was seized by the guards.

“You betrayed me, Izanami. This is what you deserve,” Azula stated before she was taken away by the guards.

The fact that Azula had used her full name was enough for Izanami to know how furious Azula was with her, since she hardly called Izanami by her full name. Once she was seized by the guards, they took her away from the gondola’s and all Izanami could do was glance back as she watched the gondola retreat from the prison, taking Azula with it and leaving Izanami here. Eventually Izanami was taken to a large room that she was roughly shoved inside of.

“You’ll be dealt with soon,” the guard said as they shut the door, leaving her locked inside.

“I have to say, I didn’t expect you to join us,” a voice commented from behind her.

Turning around, Izanami was surprised to see both Mai and Ty Lee standing behind her. Ty Lee quickly walked up to Izanami and gave her a hug. Even though Izanami wasn’t usually a fan of Ty Lee’s hugs, she could certainly use one now.

“It was the right thing to do. I just didn’t expect us all to be thrown away like this,” Izanami admitted.

“Now that Azula has nobody, she’s only going to get worse,” Ty Lee whispered.

“It’s her own fault. She pushed us all away. She only has herself to blame for things ending like this between us,” Mai said.

“At least we have each other,” Ty Lee gave them both a small smile.

“Ty Lee’s right. The three of us might not have always been close, but now that we’re all we have we need to stick together. If we do that, we can get through this,” Izanami proclaimed.

“And since Zuko got away, that means the Avatar is still out there. When the War is over, he’ll come and bust us out after what we did for him,” Ty Lee added.

“That’s _if_ they win the war,” Mai pointed out.

Izanami shook her head, “No, they will win the War. We might’ve been against them for all this time, but now we have to believe that they’ll win for everything to be okay.”

“Which it will be,” Ty Lee insisted.

Nodding in agreement with Ty Lee, Izanami glanced at Mai who reluctantly voiced her support as well. What happened next surprised them all as Ty Lee pulled them together for a group hug, which they all reciprocated. They might not have been the greatest of friends in the past, but now they were going to need each other more than ever.

As for Izanami, she was just wondering how Azula was going to handle their betrayal. Losing three of her closest friends in one full swoop was certainly going to wreak havoc with Azula’s mental state, since she would no longer have them there to watch out for her. Even though Azula had so callously thrown them away in prison, Izanami couldn’t help but care about the well-being of the girl who had for so many years been her only friend, because without any of them Azula was left alone.

And Azula on her own was far more terrifying than her with any army.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was a longer chapter than recent ones. It certainly delivered in content with the Boiling Rock and Izanami stabbing Azula in the back along with Mai and Ty Lee. I know that most of you were probably expecting Izanami to stay with Azula and I don’t think anyone did ever think otherwise. But there’s a reason why this story has 50 chapters… ;).


	32. Time to Reflect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These next few chapters are certainly going to be interesting now that Azula and Izanami are at odds with each other for the first real time in their life. I’m also looking forward to them as well since it’ll give Izanami, Mai and Ty Lee a real chance to bond without Azula forcing anything on them. Flashbacks are in italics and this chapter takes place during the Southern Raiders.

A few days after Azula had left them at the Boiling Rock, Izanami, Mai and Ty Lee were then transferred to the prison in the Capital City. Even though either option was bad, Izanami was at least glad that she would be somewhat close to home, despite being in prison. Luckily for them, Mai’s uncle had managed to pull some strings which allowed them to be close together and away from the other prisoners that they wouldn’t want to come across on their own.

Although part of Izanami had wished that she’d made her choice at a different time that wouldn’t have resulted in her being thrown in prison, Izanami was still proud of the choice that she had made. If Mai and Ty Lee were to be locked away for doing the same thing, then Izanami was more than happy to join them. At least this gave them the opportunity to forge a real friendship without Azula’s interference, like she had done with all of their lives.

Thinking about Azula made Izanami feel guilty for abandoning the girl who was supposed to be her friend. But that was just it, Azula was supposed to be her friend yet she hardly acted like it. Looking back, Izanami could see that Azula had hardly ever treated her like a genuine friend like she had done with Mai and Ty Lee. Despite knowing that Azula only ever really used the other two girls, Izanami had always preferred to believe that her friendship with Azula was genuine. That was no longer what she believed after Azula had so callously thrown her away in prison after everything that they had been through together.

Since being thrown into prison, Izanami was yet to speak with Mai and Ty Lee as she was being kept separately away from them, which in a way, was like how their friendship as a whole had been so far. They were always on the other side of things, because of Azula. Now Izanami was hoping that whatever had been said and done would soon be water under the bridge since they would be needing each other now more than ever.

Lying in her cell, Izanami couldn’t help but wonder how her parents had taken the news of her imprisonment. She hadn’t heard from them and they hadn’t come to visit her and Izanami was just hoping that despite her actions, they wouldn’t abandon her. As for Natsumi, Izanami didn’t care what he thought of her just like she never had, since any connection that they might’ve made had never been genuine. At the same time, Izanami was hoping that Azula was coping with their betrayal as best she could without shutting herself off completely, but knowing Azula, Izanami figured that that was what she was doing right now since that had always been how Azula coped with things she didn’t know how to.

_Three years ago, Izanami had watched in horror as Fire Lord Ozai burned and banished his own son just for speaking out of turn. When Izanami first heard about the Agni Kai that was to take place, she was horrified that Ozai would go to such lengths against his own son. What had horrified her even more was how Azula had watched on as her brothers screams of pain echoed throughout the arena._

_Only now Izanami had realised just how much Zuko’s situation was affecting her now that Azula was away from the prying eyes of everyone else. She had just been to see Zuko, and now Azula could barely look Izanami in the eyes._

_“How was he, Az?” Izanami asked gently._

_“I couldn’t see. I mean, I spoke to him but his eye was covered up. He says it hurts,” Azula whispered._

_Izanami scoffed, “I would imagine so, since he just got burned with a full blast by his own father.”_

_Azula grimaced, “I didn’t think that father would do something like that. Not even to Zuzu. He always talks about how family is important and that we need to keep ours together.”_

_“Well, no offense, Az, but your father is a hypocrite,” Izanami remarked._

_“Did you know that he’s banishing him?” Azula questioned._

_“Who? Zuko?” Izanami inquired, her eyes widening._

_Azula nodded, “He’s being banished from the Fire Nation and sent on the quest to capture the Avatar. Only once he’s succeeded in that will he be able to return with his honour. That part was actually my idea since father was just going to banish him altogether.”_

_“That’s horrible,” Izanami murmured._

_“Zuzu’s leaving in three days, he kept on nagging me to get him a ship even though I’ve already done more than enough for him,” Azula said._

_“But you did it anyways?” Izanami asked knowingly._

_Azula sighed, “Yes. Zuzu better appreciate everything that I’ve done for him when I could’ve easily just left him to fend for himself.”_

_Izanami smirked, “You did it because you care about him.”_

_“I do not!” Azula exclaimed. “Caring about people is weak and I am not weak.”_

_“Then why did you help Zuko if you don’t care about him?” Izanami questioned._

_“Because I took pity on him. If I’m not gonna help him, then who will?” Azula answered._

_“It’s going to be strange without Zuko around,” Izanami commented._

_“It’s going to be even better without Zuko around. Now that he’s banished, father has passed his birthright onto me which now makes me the second in line for the throne,” Azula proclaimed._

_“What if Zuko succeeds in his mission?” Izanami queried._

_Azula scoffed, “He won’t. The Avatar hasn’t been seen in almost a hundred years. While the mission gives him a chance to come back, he won’t succeed. This is Zuzu we’re talking about anyways.”_

_“So, let me get this straight. You’ve given Zuko a chance to come back and the help he could possibly need, but you don’t think or want him to succeed?” Izanami clarified._

_“Exactly. The Avatar has had the last hundred years to show his face and he hasn’t. He’s obviously not coming back and good riddance, just like Zuzu,” Azula smirked._

_It was times like this when Azula never ceased to confuse Izanami with the way her mind worked. In the span of a few minutes, Azula had shown her human side by helping Zuko, only to turn around and say that it was all for nothing and that she couldn’t care less about what happened to her brother. Deep down, Izanami knew that Azula cared for her brother since otherwise she never would’ve helped Zuko like she already has._

_So when Izanami left Azula later that night, she gave her friend one last look and could just see the conflict in her face. She knew that Azula thought she wasn’t supposed to care about her brother, but Izanami also knew that there would always be one small part of Azula that would care about Zuko. It was just because of how Azula was raised that she never felt comfortable when it came to talking about her feelings, since that was just the kind of person that Azula was and Izanami had come to accept that._

That was one of the many instances where Azula confused Izanami with the way her mind worked, since she would say one thing and then something else that would completely contradict that. Most of the time, Izanami had just brushed her concerns about Azula to the side, since she knew addressing them would only cause unnecessary problems. Now that Azula was on her own, Izanami feared what she would be come under the influence of her father. For Azula’s sake, Izanami hoped that she’d be able to see through his manipulations and that they would one day be able to move past this.

~*•°•*~

Much to Izanami’s surprise, she eventually received a visit from her parents not too long after her imprisonment. Part of Izanami had expected them to disown her because of her actions against the Fire Nation, which explained her surprise when they unexpectedly showed up at her prison cell. As soon as they walked in, Izanami could feel the rage coming from them and any hopes that she had about them being there for her were soon evaporated.

“I hope you’re satisfied with yourself, Izanami. Because of your actions our family is now a disgrace,” Masaru berated her.

“Because of your betrayal, your father has been demoted to the bottom of the barrel. We’ve lost all of our credibility because of you,” Hikari added.

Izanami scoffed, “You mean the credibility that you had because of me?”

Masaru glared at her, “I beg your pardon!”

“Oh, come on. You two know just as well as I do that people only started noticing you once I began friends with Azula. Sure, you’d already been successful before then but that was when people really started caring about who you were. Before then, you were just an Admiral and his dedicated wife. Then you became the parents of the girl who was best friends with Princess Azula,” Izanami ranted, her frustration at her parents finally come out.

“How dare you speak to us that way, Izanami!” Hikari yelled. “I thought that we raised you better than to speak out against your parents. I thought that we raised you better to be a loyal citizen. Clearly we didn’t do enough now that you’re branded as a traitor!”

“And that was my decision to make. I’m sorry that you have come down with me, but it was the right thing to do,” Izanami said, which she firmly believed.

“You have brought shame to our family name. We have lost everything because of you,” Masaru stated.

“Despite everything that we have done to give you a good life, this is how you repay us? I have never been more ashamed of anybody than I am of you right now,” Hikari scolded her.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’m a disgrace. There’s no need for you to repeat it every sentence,” Izanami snapped.

“You deserve to be reminded of your failure and shame. You are no daughter of ours. When we leave you this will be the last time that you see us,” Masaru said.

“Then I hope you feel the shame of abandoning your own child in her time of need. I hope you feel the shame of trying to ruin her life by making her marry someone she doesn’t love. I hope you feel the shame of every way that you belittled me and made me feel like I wasn’t good enough. Remember that the shame is because of your own actions that pushed me away,” Izanami insisted.

“We’re done here, Hikari,” Masaru announced before turning to leave, with Izanami’s mother hesitating before following her husband out the door.

“I’m sorry, Izanami,” Hikari whispered loud enough for her to hear.

Tears soon fell down Izanami’s face as she realised the reality of her parents words. They didn’t want anything to do with her. Although part of Izanami knew that she shouldn’t be surprised by that, her parents abandonment hurt harder than she thought it would. But this was what Izanami had been willing to give up by betraying Azula’s friendship. Her parents had made their own choice to abandon her, which they did.

Of all the people that Izanami expected to come visit her, Natsumi was the last person on the least. Even Azula showing up wouldn’t have surprised Izanami, but Natsumi certainly did. They’d only had an engagement that was forced upon them by their families. Any connection that they had made had been because it was what was expected of them. So when Natsumi entered her cell a few hours later, she had been pretty surprised to see him.

“Hello, Izanami,” Natsumi greeted her.

“Um, hi?” Izanami returned the greeting awkwardly.

“Based on your reaction I’m assuming that you’re surprised to see me,” Natsumi noted.

“I guess you could say that,” Izanami muttered. “You weren’t who I thought would visit me.”

“Despite the circumstances of our relationship, there was a part of me that cared for you, Izanami and I know that deep down, you probably feel the same,” Natsumi said.

Izanami rolled her eyes, “You’re delusional if you thought that anything I felt for you was real or genuine. I had to make my parents think that I was coming around to the idea of being with you when in reality, I hated the thought of marrying you.”

“So if anything was to happen to me like this happened to you, you wouldn’t care about me at all?” Natsumi questioned.

“I can’t say for sure how I’d react to something like that. I’ve only ever felt resentful towards you because of the situation that we got put in. Right now, I can’t imagine feeling any pity for you since you seemed far too willing to ruin my life,” Izanami answered.

Natsumi sighed, “Izanami, you have to understand that I was just doing my duty to my family by agreeing to seek you. As you could imagine, I was raised with the idea of knowing that true love wasn’t a real possibility for me and I’ve accepted that.”

“Well, that’s sad then. I grew up dreaming of one day being able to fall in love with someone who would love me the same. I never wanted my destiny to be planned out for me, even though I knew that was a possibility,” Izanami proclaimed.

“You’ve certainly made a name for yourself in the Fire Nation now. First you were the Princesses best friend and now you’re the girl who betrayed the Princess,” Natsumi stated.

“I don’t care what anybody else thinks of me, and I certainly don’t care about what you think of me. I’m more than just who I’ve associated myself with for the past few years and its time people started realising that,” Izanami said.

“You’ll forever be remembered as the girl who betrayed the Fire Nation Princess,” Natsumi remarked.

“I prefer to think of myself as the girl who finally stood up for what she thought was right despite what the consequences were,” Izanami snapped.

“For what it’s worth, Izanami, I do hope that you can get through this alright. You don’t deserve to spend your time rotting away in prison,” Natsumi admitted.

Izanami narrowed her eyes, “Funny, that’s the exact opposite of what my parents said earlier.”

“Your parents are misguided. They’ll realise what they’ve lost sooner or later,” Natsumi reasoned.

“Maybe then it’ll be too late,” Izanami murmured. “Goodbye, Natsumi. For what its worth, I wish you the best.”

“Likewise, Izanami,” Natsumi gave her a small smile.

With that, Natsumi turned around and left Izanami alone in her cell, hardly feeling any anger towards him like she thought she would. They had parted on good terms, despite their tumultuous beginning. Izanami had been honest when she said she wished Natsumi the best, since he deserved happiness just like she did. After all, they had both been undeservingly put into a scheme by their parents that could’ve ended a lot worse than how it did.

Now that Izanami had at least a few more months to spend in this place, she was hoping to find some clarity amongst all of this mess considering how things had worked out for her. Barely a week ago she had been as high as you could get, being the best friend of the Fire Nation Princess, and now she was locked up in a cell with her own family disowning her for the actions that she believed were right. Despite Azula being on the other side, Izanami hoped that the Avatar would succeed in the War which would see her released, even if part of her believed that she deserved this due to her part in certain events.

But all of those events had happened, and there was nothing that Izanami could do to change how things had ended up. At the same time, she wouldn’t change anything since it was those events that had allowed her to grow into the person that she was now, and Izanami quite liked this version of herself a lot more than any other. This version of Izanami wasn’t afraid to stand up for what she believed in regardless of the consequences. This version of Izanami was able to tell the difference between right and wrong without anything holding her back.

In Izanami’s eyes, there really wasn’t anything better than feeling confident in her own decisions which was something that she hadn’t felt until now. From now on, Izanami would be making her own decisions regardless of what was expected of her or what other people wanted her to do. On that note, Izanami couldn’t wait until she could walk out of these walls and finally have the freedom to make her own destiny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s really confusing having as many OC’s as I do since I kept on referring to Izanami as Akane (my Flying Embers OC) before realising my mistake and changing it, lol. The flashback after Zuko’s Agni Kai was inspired by the fact that I’d made references to it but never actually referred to how it made Izanami feel. The meeting with her parents and Natsumi was always going to happen, but they won’t be the only visitors that Izanami will be receiving ;).


	33. Life Moves On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really looking forward to wrapping this story up for you guys, so I’ve been trying the past few days to write as many chapters as I can. Once I’m finished with this, it’ll give me time to write more stories that I’ve had planned for ages. If these double updates continue, the story should be completed by early next year based on my calculations. This chapter takes place during the Ember Island Players and I hope you guys enjoy it.

If Izanami was being completely honest, she didn’t exactly expect prison to be quite like it had been. Granted, they had it easier than most prisoners would because of the strings that Mai’s uncle had pulled for them. The strings weren’t enough to get them released from prison, since Izanami knew that Azula would never let that happen after their betrayal. Adjusting to her new conditions had been easier than Izanami expected it to be, since she had managed to settle in to prison life as best as she could.

As for Mai and Ty Lee, Izanami had managed to speak with them a few times and they seemed to be coping alright. Out of the three of them, Ty Lee seemed to be doing it hard the most, but it wasn’t like Ty Lee was completely helpless. To Izanami’s surprise, Ty Lee had befriend a group of female warriors, who were the same warriors that they had apprehended in the forest all of those months ago. It seemed pretty ironic to Izanami that of all the places for them to end up together, it had been here but they seemed to be making the most of this situation.

Seeing Mai and Ty Lee was a constant reminder of what Izanami had done to end up in this situation. The three of them had committed the ultimate betrayal against someone who was supposed to be their friend, and now they were suffering the consequences for their actions. Sometimes Izanami found herself wondering what Azula was up to. Even though the Azula had been the one to throw her in prison, Izanami couldn’t bring it in her to wish an ill will upon the girl who had been her friend for years

Despite their friendship and everything that they had been through together, Azula still threw her in prison which was enough to lessen the guilt that Izanami felt for her actions. What they did hardly seemed to bother Mai, since she was just dealing with it like it was nothing. On the other hand, Ty Lee seemed to share Izanami’s feelings towards Azula since Ty Lee had always seen Azula as one of her best friends, despite the way she treated her. Being able to see Mai and Ty Lee also helped Izanami, since she at least knew that she wasn’t alone in this situation.

“How are you guys handling things so far?” Izanami asked the girls as they sat and ate their lunch. Unlike most of the prisoners, the girls were allowed to eat their meals outside which gave them the chance to talk to each other. Although they were always under the watchful eyes of the guards to make sure that they didn’t do anything out of order.

“As good as you can,” Mai replied.

“It’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” Ty Lee admitted.

“Seriously? I would’ve thought that you’d be dying in here,” Izanami remarked.

“Well, it is still pretty bad. The cells are dirty, the food is awful, but the company could be worse. The Kyoshi Warriors and I are actually getting along pretty well,” Ty Lee said.

One thing that Izanami had realised since being thrown into prison was that things were a lot more dull around here then they were at the Boiling Rock. The prisoners there were at least given time to go out and exercise, whereas here they were only allowed out twice a day to shower and do their chores. That was how Ty Lee had managed to come across the Kyoshi Warriors, and they’d slowly been getting closer ever since.

“Figures that you would make friends with a group of people who were once our enemies,” Izanami commented.

“Well, I never really saw them as enemies anyway. I just attacked them because that’s what Azula wanted me to do. I’m thinking about giving them Chi blocking lessons,” Ty Lee said.

“What do they think about Mai and I?” Izanami asked curiously.

Ty Lee shrugged, “Since you guys are here with me, they don’t really care that much anymore. When I told them what happened, they actually thought we were pretty cool for doing what we did.”

“It’s nice for someone to appreciate it,” Mai muttered.

“While the Kyoshi Warriors are fun and all, I’m really glad that you guys are here with me. I couldn’t ask for better people to be in prison with,” Ty Lee smiled.

“The feeling is mutual. We might not have been that close before, but I’m glad to be here with you guys,” Izanami agreed.

“Well, I’d rather be anywhere but here but if I have to put up with something then I guess I’ll take you two,” Mai said.

“Mai, I think that’s the nicest thing that you’ve ever said to us,” Izanami chuckled. “I knew you cared somewhere deep down.”

“Look where caring got me,” Mai muttered.

“I’m sure that Zuko appreciated what you did for him,” Izanami reassured her. “I mean, you saved his life for Agni’s sake. You betrayed Azula for him. If he can’t see that you care about him after that then he’s an idiot.”

“I wonder how Azula is,” Ty Lee whispered.

“Probably going crazier by the minute,” Mai scoffed.

“Mai,” Izanami hissed, not wanting them to get in trouble for talking about Azula like that.

“I don’t care who hears me. We all knew that it was only a matter of time before Azula lost it and she was already beginning to crack before we left. Without us, she’s just going to fall apart and it’s a shame that we won’t be there to see it happen,” Mai ranted.

“I’m not sure if I’d want to see that,” Ty Lee admitted.

Izanami nodded in agreement, “Same. While Azula might’ve been horrible to us in the end, I don’t want to see her life fall apart like that. Besides, if Azula does, you know, lose it, then that’ll only make things worse for everyone.”

“We shouldn’t feel pity on her because of what she did to us. We should hate her. She’ll be lost without us anyways. She wouldn’t have been able to achieve half of what she did without us. I hope she realises that soon enough and lives to regret what she did,” Mai said before getting up and leaving Izanami and Ty Lee to themselves.

“Mai’s right, we should hate Azula. But I’m almost too scared to even do that,” Ty Lee whispered.

Only now that they weren’t under the influence of Azula did Izanami see how her presence had affected Mai and Ty Lee. Without Azula around to control them, they felt a lot more liberty to say whatever they wanted, which was something that they didn’t have before. Now Izanami was allowed to see a different side of Mai and Ty Lee, the other side that was masked by their act for Azula.

“For me it’s different. Despite how things ended between us, I don’t think I can bring myself to hate her after everything we’ve been through even though I should,” Izanami sighed.

“You had a different friendship with Azula than Mai and I did. It kind of made me jealous,” Ty Lee admitted.

Izanami put her hand over Ty Lee’s, “My friendship with Azula was complicated. It was never perfect, but most of the time we made it work. Our problems came from the fact that I disagreed with the methods she used and how she went about achieving her goals. Sometimes I felt more like an assistant than a friend.”

“She was using us the whole time, wasn’t she?” Ty Lee realised.

“I can’t say for sure. Her intentions on bringing us together were definitely for our skills, but she wouldn’t have done so if she didn’t trust us. In my eyes any form of friendship has to have some trust in it,” Izanami said.

“I don’t think she even trusted us in the first place. She sent people to spy on us,” Ty Lee argued.

“I guess the only person who knows how Azula felt towards us was Azula, and I highly doubt that she’ll be telling us her feelings at all,” Izanami murmured.

“At least now I can talk to people without worrying about what they’re thinking of me,” Ty Lee smiled gently. “I’m going to go and see if I can get to the Kyoshi Warriors. See you later, Izana.”

“You too, Ty Lee,” Izanami said.

With Mai and Ty Lee gone, Izanami figured that she might as well return to her cell. There really wasn’t anything better for Izanami to do except for sit and think about everything that lead to this point in her life. Although thinking about it often made Izanami feel worse, it was at least better than sitting around and wasting away at the hands of the people who she once sacrificed everything for.

~*•°•*~

Being a traitor certainly wasn’t fun in the Fire Nation. Of all the crimes, treachery received the worst retribution. Since being sentenced to prison, Izanami often found herself on the receiving a fair bit of abuse from the prison guards. They seemed to take some sort of sick pleasure from berating other people and making their lives miserable. So when the doors to Izanami’s cell opened the following day, she’d half expected a guard to be showing up for their daily dose of bullying.

“Isn’t this just a pretty sight?”

The sound of that voice was immediately recognised by Izanami. After hearing that voice almost everyday for the past five years, Izanami knew who it belonged to. Shock then swept through Izanami as she realised that it was Azula who had entered her cell, not one of the guards. That was enough to make Izanami turn herself around since she usually turned her back on whoever came to berate her.

“Hello, Izanami,” Azula acknowledged her, using her full name instead of the nickname that had always slid so easily off her tongue.

“Hi, Azula,” Izanami returned the greeting.

“I just thought that I’d pop in and see how you were coping in your new environment. I have to say, I’m slightly disappointed since I expected you to be doing a lot worse than what you seem,” Azula observed.

“You of all people should know that I’m stronger than most people give me credit for, Azula,” Izanami remarked. “Why are you really here?”

“Can’t an old friend just visit a friend in prison?” Azula questioned.

Izanami scoffed, “Like you’d consider us friends now. In your eyes, we’re nothing but traitors to you. It’s sad though, since we did use to be friends.”

“That’s right, _used_ to be. Until you stabbed me in the back!” Azula exclaimed.

“I was doing the right thing, Azula,” Izanami proclaimed.

“Yet it got you in prison, how ironic?” Azula crossed her arms.

“That’s because the Fire Nation is such a messed up place. People shouldn’t be punished for exercising their freedom of speech. That is exactly what I was doing. You might see it as betraying you, but I saw it as standing up for what I believed in,” Izanami said.

“Well, your beliefs are _wrong_!” Azula angrily hissed.

“Look at yourself, Azula. You think it’s fine to just kill millions of people all in the name of our so-called ‘great’ country’s fight to supremacy. Those people don’t deserve to be burned to ashes just because it’s what your father wants. They deserve a peaceful life, a life that has been unjustly taken away from them for the past century,” Izanami ranted.

“Since when have you ever felt this way? You seemed perfectly content and supportive of whatever father and I strived to achieve,” Azula argued.

“That’s because I hardly ever was content and supportive of what you and your father wanted to do. When you told me about Ozai’s plan to burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground, I felt sick to the stomach thinking of those innocent lives who deserved so much better. When I found out about Zuko’s Agni Kai all of those years ago, I was horrified that Ozai would do that to his own son and that you just seemed _fine_ with it. All of this time, I have just been standing by your side because it was my duty to our country and our friendship when it was never what I wanted to do,” Izanami proclaimed.

Azula glared at her, “Then why throw it all away? You could’ve had the world at your feet, Izanami. We could’ve been invincible together. But you threw it away for the life of a disgrace!”

“At least now I can go to sleep at night knowing that what I’m doing is the right thing,” Izanami remarked.

“It’s a shame that I never realised just how delusional you were. Maybe if I had, things wouldn’t be this way,” Azula shook her head.

“I’m _not_ delusional, Azula. If anyone’s delusional, it’s you! You just blindly do whatever your father wants you to do without thinking that maybe what you’re doing is wrong. Your moral compass is just so messed up Azula and it’s all because of your twisted beliefs that your father has shoved down your throat!” Izanami exclaimed.

“How dare you address my father that way!” Azula growled as she leaned closer.

Upon looking closely at Azula, Izanami could see just how dishevelled the younger girl was compared to her usual appearance. Whenever Azula went anywhere, she always prided herself on her immaculate presentation. Only now, her robes weren’t fitted properly, her hair was a bit of a mess and she hardly looked like she’d been getting any sleep recently. That was when some of Izanami’s anger at Azula went away as she suddenly felt pity for the other girl. This was exactly what Izanami had been worried about when she left Azula, and now her worries had been confirmed.

“Azula, are you okay?” Izanami asked nervously.

“What makes you ask that?” Azula snorted.

“You just seem… different, that’s all. Believe it or not, Az, I still care about you,” Izanami whispered.

Azula scoffed, “You have a funny way of showing it. It just feels liberating not to have anyone holding you back anymore. Without you around I can do whatever I want, however I want when before it was like having this nagging voice constantly around you. Now that’s just in my head.”

“I’m worried about you, Azula,” Izanami said as she pulled herself towards the bars that separated her from Azula and she looked at her directly in the eyes. “You look like you’ve barely gotten any sleep recently. You seem on edge. Maybe you should stop worrying about what your father wants and focus on yourself.”

“Who are you to tell me how I should look after myself? You’re nobody. You’ll always be remembered as the princesses traitor friend. Meanwhile, I’ll be surrounded by glory while you’ll have a constant reminder of the life that you brought upon yourself,” Azula boasted.

“The Avatar could still win,” Izanami pointed out.

“The Avatar? He’s just a child! If he can get taken out by me, then father should have no problem with him. Once Sozin’s Comet is over, he’ll no longer be an issue and the world will be ours. The world that you’ll miss out on while you’re locked away in here for the rest of your life,” Azula said.

“We’ll see,” Izanami murmured.

“That’s it for now, Izanami. You may or may not receive a future visit from me to boast about our victory that you could’ve been apart of. That, or you’ll just hear about it from the grapevine. Either way, you’ll soon come to regret your foolish decision,” Azula said

With that, Azula turned on her heels and left Izanami alone in her cell once again. Once the feeling of surprise that came from Azula’s unexpected visit passed, Izanami sat there as she mulled over the words that they had said to each other. That was the first time that Izanami had been really honest with Azula about her actions and what she did. It felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders now that she had finally told Azula what had never been said.

At the same time, Azula’s visit that was surely meant to make her feel miserable had given Izanami hope. The mention of Sozin’s Comet had reminded Izanami that within a few days, her bending would be stronger than she could ever ask for. Not knowing exactly how the war would turn out, Izanami wasn’t willing to sit around in her cell to find out. Despite having confidence in the Avatar, it had been Azula’s reference to her taking him out that had planted seeds of doubt in her mind about the result of the war.

Everything would be on the line on the day of Sozin’s Comet. Izanami’s future was at stake and more importantly, so was the worlds. If worse came to worse and the Fire Nation did achieve victory, then Izanami would be left to rot in this prison for the rest of her life. That wasn’t what she wanted to happen. Upon remembering that General Iroh had managed to escape on the Day of Black Sun, Izanami declared to herself that she would use Sozin’s Comet the exact same way. With the power of the comet behind her, Izanami would ensure that her time in prison would be short loved.

Once she was free from these walls, Izanami could finally go out there and live the life that she’d always wanted to live but never could. Knowing that Sozin’s Comet was just around the corner, Izanami went to sleep excited that night with dreams of freedom and the future that she was going to make sure that she had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Izanami’s got a plan of her own to put into action now. Her confrontation with Azula in prison was always something that I had planned. The bit with Izanami, Mai and Ty Lee was inspired by the fact that I wanted them to get close in prison so that they could have a real friendship that wasn’t because of Azula. Speaking of which, I wasn’t really sure how Ty Lee could’ve bonded with the Kyoshi Warriors since in the Boiling Rock episode Hakoda mentioned that the Kyoshi Warriors were being held at the Capital City prison along with the invasion force so I just made things up for the sake of it.


	34. On the Line

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s hard to believe that despite where this story is at, there’s still another fifteen to go and that I’m actually managing to get these written in the time that I am. This chapter takes place during the series of finale of Sozin’s Comet, which means the rest of this story will be taking place in a different time that I’m certainly looking forward to writing. As per usual, flashbacks and other stuff are in italics.

With her plan to escape in mind, Izanami started preparing herself for the day of Sozin’s Comet that was only days away. When the comet arrived, Izanami planned on using its power to break out of the prison and hopefully take Mai and Ty Lee with her. Thanks to the short conversations that they were allowed to have, Izanami had a fair idea of where their cells were and was hoping to bust them out so that they could all start a new life together.

Once Izanami got out of prison, she had no idea what she would do with her life. She figured that she’d plan something once she knew what the outcome of the war was. If the Avatar won, Izanami thought that maybe she could return to Ember Island where the only good memories of her youth seemed to be or go travelling on her own. On the other hand, if the Fire Nation won Izanami would have hardly any options for her future which worried her. The best she could do was hide in the Earth Kingdom or maybe even the Water Tribes, but Izanami didn’t want to spend the rest of her life hiding. She wanted to be free like she deserved.

In the lead up to Sozin’s Comet, Izanami had spoken with Mai and Ty Lee about possibly getting them out of here, although they seemed more hesitant about escaping than Izanami would’ve thought. If there was ever a day to escape, it would have to be on the day of Sozin’s Comet where Izanami was confident that she would at least be able to match any opponent that she faced. Watching Azula train for all of those years was certainly going to pay off as well, since Izanami had seen plenty of advanced firebending moves that someone her age normally wouldn’t see.

Watching Azula train had been something that started when Izanami was twelve. Throughout her friendship with Azula, Izanami had certainly realised that the other girl was far more superior with her bending than she was. No matter what Izanami tried, she had never been able to keep up with or even match Azula’s training. It had actually been Azula’s idea for Izanami to join her during some of the better times of their friendship.

_One thing that Izanami had quickly realised about Azula was that the younger girl was far more superior than she was when it came to firebending. Everything about Azula screamed power, something that she consistently showed and displayed with true ferocity. Being Azula’s friend often left Izanami feeling inadequate, since Azula was so much smarter and talented than she was. Despite being a year younger than she was, Azula surpassed everything that Izanami could do with pure excellence._

_Things had always came easier to Azula than they did for anyone else. Even her brother Zuko had struggled to keep up with his sister who was a gifted prodigy in everything she did. It was clear that Azula loved being the best at what she did, even if it upset those around her. Izanami just didn’t understand how Azula managed to pick up on things as easily as she did._

_“Hey, Az, how do you do it?” Izanami asked Azula once she was finished with one of her training sessions._

_“Do what?” Azula questioned._

_“Do as well as you do in everything. You never struggle with your bending and can do anything with ease,” Izanami clarified._

_“Well, I wouldn’t say that I do things with ease. I always prefer to learn as much as I can before doing anything so that when I do it, I do it right. Nothing but my best is good enough, which is why I must perform as best I can,” Azula replied._

_“Doesn’t it get exhausting?” Izanami wondered._

_Azula shrugged, “Not really. I just do what comes natural to me and training is something that comes naturally to me.”_

_Izanami sighed, “You’d have to be the best firebender that I’ve ever met. You make me look like I’m pathetic.”_

_“Izana, are you jealous?” Azula smirked knowingly._

_“Can you blame me for being so? I’m older than you, so I should be better than you. But I highly doubt that I’d be able to match you in a fight,” Izanami admitted._

_“Well, I’m not going to lie and say you’re just as good as me because you’re not. I’ve hardly seen anyone that can do what I can do,” Azula boasted._

_“Gee, thanks for the confidence,” Izanami muttered._

_“But you’re not completely pathetic, Izanami. You’re better Zuzu was and he’s a year older than you. It’s not like you’re miles behind me in training. If we were to fight right now, I think that you’d be able to keep up on your own level,” Azula insisted._

_“You really think so?” Izanami asked, unsure if she could._

_“I know so,” Azula said as she put her arm on Izanami’s shoulder. “Hey, why don’t you come watch me at training tomorrow?”_

_Izanami narrowed her eyes, “Is that even allowed?”_

_“As long as you have my permission. Besides, I’m the Princess and the only person who has more authority than I do is father and he barely pays attention to what I do in training. He only cares when I have to show him what I can do,” Azula said._

_“Then I’ll join you,” Izanami smiled._

_“Great! I’ll even see if I can get you in on my lessons. It would be nice to have a training partner who isn’t completely useless, which you definitely aren’t,” Azula proposed._

_Izanami laughed, “You better watch out then, Az.”_

_“Oh, I’m so threatened,” Azula pretended to be dramatic and the two girls went about the rest of their day thinking of all the things that they could do together in training._

_On Azula’s insistence, Izanami had attended Azula’s next training session and it wasn’t long before she was joining the younger girl, which saw Izanami improve far more than she thought she could. It was because of Azula’s help that Izanami had been able to achieve what she had, and that was something that she’d been grateful for._

Back then, Izanami hadn’t really paid attention to how obsessed Azula was with being perfect. It wasn’t until they got older that Izanami realised where Azula’s true drive and dedication came from. After seeing how obsessive Azula was when it came to being the best at everything which manifested into her training, Izanami didn’t want that to be her which was why she sat back and resorted to watching her friend train.

Knowing what she knew now, Izanami could see where all of the warning signs should’ve been and where she should’ve stepped in and done something. Maybe if she had, things wouldn’t have turned out the way that they did with Azula. There were many things that Izanami could’ve done to change what inevitably happened, but there was nothing she could do to go back and change them. All she could do now was sit back and mull over how things had ended for not only her, but her friends as well.

 _Oh, Az. Why did things have to be this way?_ Izanami thought as she leaned against the wall of her prison cell.

You’d think that after everything that had happened that Izanami would hate the girl who imprisoned her, but because of everything that had happened, Izanami couldn’t bring herself to hate Azula. Part of her felt anger and sadness towards her, but Izanami couldn’t hate the girl who had been her friend for so long.

~*•°•*~

While Izanami was mulling over the past in her cell at the Capital City prison, Princess Azula was celebrating what was to come. Sozin’s Comet was just a few days away and Azula was looking forward to burning the Earth Kingdom to the ground alongside her father. That was going to be the first time Azula would join her father in combat, since Ozai had always taken a diplomatic position when it came to the War.

To celebrate the occasion of Sozin’s Comet, Fire Lord Ozai had organised a military dinner where he officially announced his plan that would take place on this historic day. For Azula, this was the first event that she had attended without Izanami by her side. Ever since they had become friends, Izanami had attended everything with Azula no matter what it was for. It was easy to get bored with all of the politics talk so Azula liked having Izanami around to keep her entertained.

Now that Izanami was locked away in prison, that left Azula to face this on her own and she surprisingly found herself enjoying the night a lot more now that she could be involved with the main events. Her father had given her a dedication in his opening speech, thanking her for the loyalty that she had showed which he promised would soon be rewarded. Just knowing that she was finally going to get recognised for all of her dedication meant the world to Azula, although it was just a shame that Izanami wouldn’t be here to share this moment with her while she was suffering in prison for her disloyalty.

By visiting her old friend in prison the other day, Azula was hoping to talk some sense into Izanami because although she refused to admit it, Azula knew that she needed the other girl in her life. Without Izanami around to keep her sane, Azula slowly found herself getting overwhelmed by the pressure that Izanami had always been able to ease. But this was a time for Azula to step out on her own, and prove that she could do just fine without Izanami by her side.

_“You don’t seem to be doing well so far, Az.”_

Shocked at hearing the familiar voice of her ex best friend, Azula instantly turned around and was even more shocked to see Izanami standing there. Confusion swept through Azula as she struggled to figure out what was going on. It was clear that nobody else was around to see this, so Azula had no idea how she was supposed to react.

“Izanami! How did you get here? You should be rotting in prison like you deserve!” Azula hissed.

_“Is that really how you feel?” Izanami asked._

“What are you talking about? You should know that you deserve what you’ve gotten for your heinous actions! This is what you get for betraying me like Mai and Ty Lee,” Azula growled.

_“Why is it that my actions hurt you more than what Mai and Ty Lee did? We all committed the same act. We all betrayed you for the right reasons, which you cannot see,” Izanami said._

“You’re deluded! What you did was foolish and the stupidest thing that I have ever seen anyone do,” Azula spat.

_“You’re the deluded one, Az, because you can’t see past your fathers manipulations. You’re too delusional to see that there are more important things in the world than you. You’re too deluded to see that what you’re doing is wrong,” Izanami proclaimed._

“I’m doing what’s best for me! I’m sorry that it didn’t fall under your stupid idealistic ways,” Azula seethed.

_Izanami shook her head, “You don’t understand, Azula. You don’t understand the difference between right and wrong. You don’t understand that this shouldn’t be how things are. You don’t understand that there’s a better path for you to take. The path that you should’ve taken with me.”_

“The path to treachery?” Azula scoffed. “I’d rather lose than be branded as a traitor.”

_“Then that’s what we’ll happen. You’ll fail at everything you planned to succeed in. Everything will come crashing down for you and you’ll regret giving me away like you did. You’ll wish you had listened to me,” Izanami said._

“Enough!” Azula growled.

Having been fed up with Izanami’s torment, Azula lunged forward with her nails outstretched and dragged them through the air as she let out a blast of fire towards Izanami. Panting heavily, Azula looked up to see that there was nothing left of Izanami, almost like she was never there to begin with. Upon that realisation, Azula groaned in frustration as she had let her head get the better of her once again. Keeping herself in check without Izanami was proving to be a lot more difficult than what Azula thought it would be.

“I don’t need her. I’m just fine on my own,” Azula muttered.

With Izanami locked away in prison, Azula was now left without anyone by her side for the first time in ages. Not having Izanami around left Azula feeling something that she didn’t quite know how to articulate. All Azula knew was that Izanami’s absence had left a greater impact on her than she thought it would and would definitely not want to miss. Now it was up to Azula to prove that she could do this own her own and more importantly, prove Izanami wrong.

~*•°•*~

On the day of Sozin’s Comet, Izanami woke already knowing what day it was. She could already feel the power surging through her veins that was unlike anything that she’d ever experienced before. As the day went past, Izanami kept her focus on the small bit of the outside world that she was allowed to see. It was no surprise to Izanami that she was kept inside her cell today, since the guards wouldn’t want to risk letting her out and escaping. But that wouldn’t matter, since Izanami planned on using the comets power to bust herself out of here, and hopefully Mai and Ty Lee as well.

Thinking about Sozin’s Comet made Izanami’s mind wonder to Azula. No matter how much she didn’t want to think about her, Izanami couldn’t seem to get the other girl off of her mind. Right now, Azula was probably on her way to burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground alongside her sadistic father. Normally Izanami wouldn’t wish any sort of ill will upon Azula, but considering what was at stake, Izanami really hoped that the Avatar would be able to bring them down so that the world could live in peace again.

Any peace that Izanami could’ve had today was disrupted by the power that she felt from the comet before it even arrived. Sure, Izanami had heard stories about how incredible it and the impact that it had, but she didn’t think that it would feel the way it did. Looking outside, Izanami noticed the comet getting closer and closer, which gave her enough confidence to put her hopeful escape plan into action.

After doing the necessary preparations, Izanami took a deep breath as she stood in her cell, feeling the power of the comet more than ever. Using as much power and ferocity as she could, Izanami launched a powerful blast of fire at the bars that kept her inside. The power of the blast as unlike anything that Izanami had seen before as it instantly destroyed the bars and allowed her to slip past. Her attention then turned to the large metal door that was just another of the obstacles keeping Izanami from her freedom.

Thanks to the power of the comet, Izanami was easily able to bust through her door, allowing her to run through the prison halls to hopefully find Mai and Ty Lee. It seemed as though Izanami’s escape attempt didn’t go unnoticed by any of the prison guards, since she suddenly heard a loud commotion coming from down the corridor. When Izanami reached the end of it, she found herself surrounded by several guards that she was easily able to defeat, which even surprised her. Once Izanami had them out, she picked one of them up and slammed them up against the wall.

“Where are the prisoners Mai and Ty Lee?” Izanami demanded, using some of Azula’s interrogation techniques that she had never quite agreed with but was using anyways.

“On the first and fourth floor in cells 1k and 4R respectively,” the guard choked out.

Satisfied with the answer, Izanami decided to head to the fourth floor first and hopefully get Ty Lee out of her cell. Upon reaching the fourth floor, Izanami once again found herself surrounded by several guards who went to attack her, with Izanami barely making it out in good condition. Luckily for Izanami, she had speed and agility on her side so she was easily able to make it through to Ty Lee’s supposed cell and bust the door down, discovering Ty Lee sitting in her cell.

“Izana!” Ty Lee exclaimed in shock. “What are you – How did you?”

“I told you that I was going to get you guys out of here,” Izanami proclaimed.

“Izana, your arm,” Ty Lee gasped.

Glancing down at where Ty Lee was pointing, Izanami winced in pain as she saw the burn mark that had otherwise gone unnoticed until now. The burning sensation quickly started to spread, and Izanami considered herself lucky that that was all she had gotten so far.

“Must’ve missed that,” Izanami muttered as she prepared herself for another blast. “Alright, Ty, you might wanna stand back for this.”

“No, Izana. I don’t want you to risk your potential freedom for me when all I’m going to do is hold you back,” Ty Lee said.

“How could you possibly hold me back, Ty? You’re one of the most skilled fighters that I know,” Izanami argued.

“On a good day. But this is Sozin’s Comet. I don’t want any of us getting hurt because I couldn’t help you,” Ty Lee whispered.

Izanami’s gaze softened, “You want me to go on my own?”

“Yes, while you can still get out of here. Mai and I will be just fine on our own. We’ll wait for the war to be over and then we can meet up again someday,” Ty Lee reassured her.

“I’d like that,” Izanami smiled, before it faltered as she heard the guards approaching her.

“They’re after you. You need to leave now. You can do this, Izana,” Ty Lee encouraged her.

Izanami sighed, “If things don’t turn out well for all of us, I promise that I’ll be back to get you guys out.”

“Just go!” Ty Lee yelled frantically.

Nodding, Izanami sprinted out of Ty Lee’s cell and headed back down the corridor as she heard the guards approaching her. The pain of the burn on her hand was really starting to affect Izanami, and she knew that she’d need to get it checked out as soon as she could. As Izanami raced through the prisons corridors, she felt everything coming after her and was overwhelmed with the enormity of her situation. Not knowing what the result would be for everyone at the end of this day terrified Izanami, since she didn’t want to waste what could possibly her only chance of freedom.

Reaching the prisons exit sent a flood of emotions through Izanami. Mainly fear, apprehension, nerves and dread at what was to come. Upon reaching the main gate, Izanami was attacked by the numerous guards on patrol but was lucky to be able to fend them off. With the guards taken care of, Izanami propelled herself over the gate and onto the other side, meaning that she had successfully managed to escape from prison and give herself her life back.

You’d think that Izanami would feel celebratory upon doing so, but all she wanted to do was lie down and let out all of the pent up emotions that she was experiencing. She couldn’t exactly do that with the prison guards breathing down her neck as they tried to chase after her. But Izanami was too quick for them and managed to reach the city’s exit. Looking down at Caldera City, Izanami’s eyes widened as she saw blue and red fire clash in the distance. One of which was undoubtedly coming from Azula, but Izanami couldn’t say for sure where the red fire was coming from, even if she did have somewhat of a suspicion.

Not wanting to stick around and find out what the result would be, Izanami fled from the place that had been her home for so long. There wasn’t really anything tying Izanami to Calder City anymore since her parents had given up on her which didn’t really leave Izanami with anything to go to. There was one place that Izanami had something waiting for her. The one place where Izanami felt that she could just be herself and unload all of her feelings.

Kazu’s grave.

Despite the condition that she was in, Izanami forced herself to make it to Kazu’s grave without much trouble. Normally Izanami entered through the front gate, but since she was kind of a wanted criminal, she snuck in through the back to find her brothers grave. Once she did so, Izanami all but collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion as she clutched onto the tombstone and was finally able to unleash all of her inner turmoil.

In that moment, Izanami didn’t care what was going on around her or what she should’ve been doing. All she cared about was being with what was left of her brother. Tears eventually came flooding out of Izanami as she felt her feelings coming out. Everything that had happened in the past few months from the Earth Kingdom, to dealing with Natsumi and even betraying Azula came out for Izanami. This was truly the first time that she had been able to let all of her emotions go like she did, and it certainly left her feeling better for it.

When Izanami finished letting everything out, all she could do was just cling onto Kazu’s grave as she felt like it was all she had. Sure, Izanami knew she had Mai and Ty Lee but she didn’t know what the end result would mean for them. At least now that Izanami was out of prison she could finally start doing what she wanted, not what others wanted or what was expected of her. It was time that Izanami started standing on her own and made the most of the life that she had. That, she was most definitely looking forward to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unlike my other story, Blinding Horizon where my character has spent almost twenty chapters in prison, Izanami’s prison stay was as short as you could get. The main purpose of Izanami’s time in prison was for her to reflect on her relationship with Azula and everything that happened to add a little more substance to her character. Even though I could’ve just let Izanami wait until the war was over for her to be released from jail, I felt like having her escape on her own was more important for her character. I forgot to mention it at the end of last chapter since it wasn’t what I had planned at the time, but Azula’s visit will be the last time that Izanami sees her for a while, at least in her own timeline…


	35. Up to Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part of the story is what I’d consider to be the second part, since it deals with a lot more different stuff than the previous chapters have. This chapter in particular alternates between time frames, since it deals with Izanami’s new life in the one-year skip after the War.

After escaping from the Capital City prison and running to her brothers grave, Izanami quickly realised that she needed a game plan. So that she didn’t jump into anything, Izanami decided to hide until she heard any news on the result of the War. Good news had come to her and she found out that the Avatar had won, Fire Lord Ozai had been stripped of his bending and Azula had been locked up in a mental institution.

When Izanami heard the news about Azula, she couldn’t deny the pang of pity that she felt for the girl who had been her friend for so long. What made it even worse was when Izanami heard about the mental breakdown that Azula had suffered following the defeat at the hands of her brother and the waterbender, Katara. It seemed as though Azula’s mental state had only deteriorated even more after Izanami’s betrayal, just like Izanami feared it would.

The biggest change that had happened in the Fire Nation as a result of the War being over was the fact that Zuko had been crowned as Fire Lord. Under Zuko’s order, Mai and Ty Lee had quickly been released from prison, something that was a weight off of Izanami’s shoulders since she had felt guilty about leaving them behind, despite their reassurance that it would be okay. Any criminal charges that the girls had been given as a result of their betrayal had been dropped, and Izanami was now allowed to walk freely through the Fire Nation.

Due to their time in prison, Izanami had formed an even stronger bond with Mai and Ty Lee that would always be there. After meeting back up with Mai and Ty Lee following their release, Izanami decided that she needed to leave the Capital City and start a new life for herself somewhere else. Part of Izanami had been hoping that maybe after the War was over that she could fix things with her parents, but since they had made no move to contact her, Izanami figured that there was no point in staying anywhere that had very little to keep her there.

That was what had prompted Izanami to move herself to Ember Island. Her reasons for choosing that place was because it was the place where she had her happiest memories. Memories with her brother, Azula, and even her parents that didn’t seem so bad compared to the memories that she now had of them. Visiting Azula was something that Izanami had contemplated, but had chickened out of doing at the last moment. In the end, Izanami had decided that she wouldn’t speak to Azula again until she had shown signs of improving with her mental state.

Living at Ember Island had given Izanami clarity that she didn’t know she needed. The past few months that Izanami had spent living there had been some of the most calming months of her life. With no Avatar to chase, no parents or Azula to deal with and no war to worry about, Izanami could just sit back and relax for the first time in forever. Of course, that didn’t mean that Izanami had completely forgotten about the people that she still cared about, since Izanami still kept in regular contact with Mai and Ty Lee, which was what she was doing now by reading Mai’s recent letter to her.

**_Izanami,_ **

**_Things have been going alright in the Fire Nation. It’s mainly just me with Zuko, since Ty Lee is off doing whatever it is she’s doing with the Kyoshi Warriors. I’m sure she’s written all about it to you in her letters, since I know she writes to you frequently. I figured that you’d be interested to hear how Azula has been progressing, since Zuko keeps me updated even though I hate it when he talks about her._ **

**_Based on what Zuko’s told me, she’s only gotten even more crazier since he put her in that mental institution. He had hopes that by putting her in there that she’d be able to fix herself, but doing so has only seemed to do the exact opposite. There have been plenty of times that Zuko has visited her, but those visits always end up with Azula trying to kill him or completely flipping out. They have to keep her chi-blocked almost all the time, since she’s even more dangerous with her bending now that she’s completely lost it._ **

**_Speaking of Zuko, I keep on getting the feeling that he’s hiding something from me. His first year of Fire Lord has been difficult, since he has had numerous assassination attempts on him and they’re clearly taking its toll. He always goes off in the night when he thinks I don’t know, and it makes me wonder what he’s hiding from me. Whenever I try bringing it up with him, he always changes the subject which is always frustrating._ **

**_I’ve always tried to be supportive of what he does, but it’s hard to be supportive when he keeps his secrets from me. You know just as well as I do that I’m honest with everything and it’s frustrating to see that it’s not reciprocated with him. Anyways, that’s just about everything that I have to say so I’m going to finish this letter here. You better get yourself a visit here soon, since I could certainly use someone other than an advisor to keep me company with Zuko constantly disappearing. Maybe you could even talk some sense into him._ **

**_Regards,  
Mai_ **

Putting Mai’s letter aside, Izanami sighed as she sat back in her seat, thinking about what Mai’s letter had to tell her. If Izanami was being completely honest, part of her liked getting Mai’s letters more than Ty Lee’s since they were at least able to provide updates on Azula’s condition, whereas Ty Lee’s letters mostly regaled stories about her adventures with the Kyoshi Warriors. While Izanami enjoyed hearing from both of her friends, Mai’s were just more helpful.

Hearing that Azula had only gotten worse since the War ended made Izanami’s heart ache for the girl. Izanami had had hopes that perhaps Azula would be able to see sense after things turned out the way they did, except that wasn’t what had happened. All Izanami wanted was for Azula to get better, so that they could possibly work on repairing their friendship. As long as Azula was insane, Izanami saw no point in reaching out to her since any attempts at reconciliation would be in vain.

After reading Mai’s letter, Izanami decided that she needed to take some time to herself outside before she responded to it. When it came to replying to her friends letters, Izanami always waited a few days or even a few weeks so that she’d have enough to tell them. Part of it was because she felt that there was no point in replying if she hardly had anything to say. For the most part, Izanami’s life at Ember Island was pretty boring in comparison to what she had done with her life before, but Izanami was perfectly content with that. Ember Island had certainly given Izanami what she wanted in life, and she couldn’t help but look back on the words that Lo and Li had spoken to them on her last visit here with Azula.

_Ember Island gives everyone a clean slate. Ember Island reveals the true you._

Back then, Izanami had just thought that it was the loony side of Lo and Li speaking, since something with those old ladies had never sat right with Izanami But now, Izanami understood what they meant. Coming to Ember Island had given Izanami a fresh start which was exactly what it had given her. It had also helped Izanami realise what she wanted in life and for that, she was grateful for.

~*•°•*~

Months later, Izanami sat in her beach house as she went to open another one of Ty Lee’s letters. Things had certainly been hectic in the Fire Nation in the last few months, since Zuko had almost waged another war with King Kuei over the Earth Kingdom colonies. That had almost been enough for Izanami to get herself involved, only for everything to be resolved by Avatar Aang without her assistance. Since the War, Izanami hadn’t actually seen the Avatar or his friends and it seemed as though they had been keeping themselves busy in the past few months.

To Izanami’s surprise, they had accompanied Zuko on his search to find his missing mother, Ursa, who had disappeared seven years ago. What surprised Izanami even more was that Zuko had even allowed Azula to join him in return for information on her possible whereabouts. For the most part, Azula had cooperated until she ran away after her mothers identity had been discovered, and she hadn’t been seen since.

When news of Azula’s disappearance reached Izanami, she had been worried for the longest time since based on what Mai and Ty Lee had told her, Azula wasn’t any better when she joined Zuko on his mission. Part of Izanami feared that Azula would come hunting after her because of her betrayal, but so far she hadn’t heard or seen any sight of Azula since. But Azula had a knack for coming out of nowhere, and Izanami wouldn’t put it past her to attack in surprise.

As Izanami read Ty Lee’s letter, she skimmed through most of it since it seemed to be another retelling of her adventures with the Kyoshi Warriors. While Izanami was happy that Ty Lee had found a group of real friends, Izanami couldn’t help but figure how ironic it was that Ty Lee had joined a group that basically wore the same thing which made them identical, which had apparently hated when it came to her other sisters. Regardless of the irony, Izanami was still happy for Ty Lee’s success. But her happiness for Ty Lee soon morphed into fear of something else as she read Ty Lee’s letter.

**_Dear Izanami,_ **

**_Oh my gosh, I have so much to tell you everything has just been crazy and hectic since Zuko came back with his mother. It was so weird seeing Ursa again, since she had basically started a new life for herself and forgotten all about everything that she had here based on what Zuko told us. I helped the Kyoshi Warriors protect Zuko and his family on their way back to the Fire Nation. Speaking of Zuko’s family, he has another sister! An adorable little half-sister named Kiyi who is just the cutest little button._ **

**_Anyways, we used the submarines that Sokka invented to sneak back into the Fire Nation. You remember Sokka, right? He was that goofy Water Tribe friend of the Avatar’s. Not to mention, he’s cute. But off limits since he’s dating Suki and I’m not that kind of girl. When we got back to the Fire Nation, things were okay for a few days but then things started getting hectic when we had to deal with all of these protesters called the New Ozai Society who are against Zuko’s reign and wanted to put Ozai back as Fire Lord. Who in the right mind would ever want that to happen?_ **

**_Just when we thought that dealing with the protesters was all we’d have to deal with, it turned out the children were being kidnapped! We didn’t realise that until Mai’s brother, Tom-Tom was kidnapped. Things with Mai have been difficult recently, since her parents split up because Mai’s father still believes that Ozai is the rightful Fire Lord. I’m not sure if Mai told you this, but she and Zuko broke up and then she started dating this other guy, Kei Lo, who used to be apart of the New Ozai Society. But he’s okay now, so he can be trusted._ **

**_At first we just thought that it was some criminal behind the kidnappings, but then Mai recognised the kidnappers as the Kemurikage from the stories that her mother told her. Because they’re spirits, Zuko called Aang in to help us out, but then he spoke to the real Kemurikage who said that they hadn’t set foot in our world since the last time they did. To make things even worse, Kiyi got kidnapped! But as the Kemurikage were escaping with her, one of them used lightning generation at us. That was enough to tell us who the real master behind the Kemurikage was, since there was only one explanation for it._ **

**_I didn’t want to believe that Azula would stoop so low, but then she revealed herself to us and basically admitted to orchestrating the entire thing. But she had these twisted reasons for doing so, since she believed that would somehow make Zuko be a better Fire Lord, when he’s doing just fine on his own without her help. We managed to get the other children back to their parents thanks to Kiyi who set them free once she discovered she could firebend and after Mai’s father finally came to his senses._ **

**_But now Mai’s father has gone to prison and as you would think, Mai isn’t exactly happy with Zuko because of that. We managed to get the children back safely, but we didn’t catch Azula since she escaped with her followers who were basically other patients from the Mental Institution. Now Azula’s back out there, and she’s more dangerous than ever. I’m scared that she’ll come hunt us down in the future, so I hope that you stay safe Izanami. Please come back to the Fire Nation if you get the chance, since I would love to see you again to know that you’re alright._ **

**_Lots of Love,  
Ty Lee_ **

Upon finishing reading Ty Lee’s letter, Izanami set it down in shock. She could hardly believe what its contents had told her and like Ty Lee, she almost refused to believe it herself even though the facts were right in front of her. At Ember Island, Izanami was somewhat immune to all of the news that came form the Capital City. After all, there had been those two boys who had no idea who Princess Azula and Prince Zuko were. This news had come as a shock to Izanami, and it reignited the fear that she thought she’d moved on from.

Despite knowing that Azula was still on the loose beforehand, knowing that her threat level had only increased sent fear down Izanami’s spine. There was once a time where she didn’t fear Azula, but now she almost didn’t have any reasons not to fear her. It was clear that Azula would continue to remain a danger to society while she was out there with her band of misfits. For the first time, Izanami was genuinely afraid of Azula now that she was out there considering they didn’t exactly part on the best of terms. And Azula was certainly the type of person to hold a grudge.

But it was hard for Izanami to forget that she had once been friends with the girl, and that she felt bad for how things had turned out between them when it was partially her fault. All Izanami wanted was for Azula to get her head on straight and see the forest for the trees. But Azula wouldn’t be able to do that with the people that she had surrounded herself now. They were the ones who would hold her back. Although Izanami could possibly have the same affect on Azula, she would at least encourage her not to revert back to her self-destructive ways.

With that in mind, Izanami formed a new mission for herself. A mission that would hopefully see her reunited with Azula and hopefully be able to save the girl from herself. It was a new world out there, and it was time that Izanami took some risks for herself.

And tracking down her old friend was certainly one big risk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That chapter almost entirely consisted of Izanami's letters from Mai and Ty Lee, which I'm glad it didn't. The bit where it says 'it was a new world out there' is a reference to what Aang said at the end of the Promise before Zuko went to see Azula. The original plan that I had for that was for Izanami to join the Gaang while they search for Ursa, I even had a few chapters specifically planned for that. But then I realised that having Izanami in the Search was kind of pointless, since she would've just been there as support for Azula, which wouldn't be that much considering Azula's mental instability. There's also the fact that Izanami would have nothing to do with the Gaang and Zuko, considering her past with them. So I decided to give Izanami her own journey away from all of that stuff, which will continue to evolve in the coming chapters.


	36. Adventure Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I mentioned in the previous chapter, this chapter was not how I originally planned it since the story was going to be heading in a different direction from what it previously was. This chapter takes place after the Smoke and Shadow trilogy and it has no relation to the show Adventure Time, I just thought that it was an appropriate title choice for the chapter.

Following her decision to find Azula on her own, Izanami quickly packed up her life at Ember Island to begin her quest to find her estranged friend. Before she left, Izanami sent some short letters to Mai and Ty Lee explaining that she was doing some soul searching and asked them not to follow her. After doing so, Izanami left Ember Island and headed to one of the more populous places in the Fire Nation.

At first, Izanami wasn’t sure where she needed to go in order to find Azula because she had no idea where the other girl could possibly be. So that was what prompted Izanami to look around and keep her ears open for any word on the Kemurikage. To Izanami’s surprise, the one place she least expected Azula to go to was the place where she heard she was supposedly at. By listening around for any signs of Azula, Izanami was somewhat stunned to hear that the Kemurikage had been spotted near an Earth Kingdom port.

Part of Izanami had been suspicious about this information, but since she had heard nothing on Azula’s whereabouts, Izanami figured that she might as well give it a shot. Getting a ride to the Earth Kingdom had been easier than Izanami thought it would be, since the first boat she found was able to get her there. Upon arriving at the Earth Kingdom, Akane immediately noticed how different things were after the first time that she had stepped foot in the Earth Kingdom.

For starters, she quickly noticed how lively things were since Izanami hadn’t even stepped off the boat she arrived on before she was overwhelmed with everything that was going on. The people just seemed so much happier and less miserable, and Izanami could understand why now that they didn’t have a war to worry about. Not wanting to waste any time, Izanami quickly got the updates that she needed and headed off in search of the elusive Kemurikage.

Back when they were younger, Azula always used to tell the story of the Kemurikage as a way to scare them whenever they had sleepovers. It usually worked on Mai and Ty Lee, but never Izanami since she knew that they were ancient spirits who only terrorised one town. The story of the Kemurikage always seemed to terrify Mai the most, which Izanami found somewhat amusing considering her general stoic behaviour. As for Ty Lee, she was always gullible and usually believed anything that she was told.

In hindsight, that was probably how Azula had manipulated their friendship to her advantage. By using Ty Lee’s gullibility, Azula was able to have Ty Lee eating out of the palm of her hand so that she never questioned anything that she did. When it came to Mai, the older girl just liked rebelling against the rules that had been drilled into her head her entire childhood. It was easy for Azula to use Mai’s desire to rebel against her parents to her advantage, since she had been so willing to leave them behind in Omashu.

Looking back, Izanami could see times where Azula had somewhat manipulated her own feelings to her advantage since Izanami had always laid out her feelings for anyone to see. Unlike Azula who kept everything to herself, Izanami wasn’t afraid to show how she felt when it came to her emotions. That probably should’ve been the first sign that their friendship was destined to fail since Izanami now realised that real friends shouldn’t be afraid to express themselves around each other, which Azula never did.

Wondering throughout the Earth Kingdom without being aided by a royal escort was a strange feeling for Izanami, since she had grown so used to being guided everywhere with her status as Azula’s friend. But now that Izanami had practically no ties to the Fire Nation Royal Family, she was left to travel on her own. Travelling by herself was actually more enjoyable than travelling with the royal procession, since Izanami was actually able to take some time to look around and enjoy the scenery, something that she had never really taken the time to do before.

At one point, Izanami was wondering on her own through a suburban area whilst she tried to find news on the Kemurikage when something suddenly caught her attention. Up ahead, Izanami noticed a woman causing quite a scene. It seemed as though she was desperately trying to get someone’s attention as everyone around just ignored her. That was enough for Izanami to forgo her search of the Kemurikage to go and see what was causing the woman such distress.

“Excuse me, ma’am, but what seems to be the problem?” Izanami asked gently as she approached her.

The woman gasped, “Bless your heart, young miss. I have been trying to seek help for hours and have only been fed dust. You are the first person to even spare me a second glance.”

“Well, what’s wrong?” Izanami inquired.

“My son is missing!” the woman wailed as she collapsed to the ground. “I left him out of my sight for barely even a minute and when I looked behind me he was gone!”

Sympathy instantly welled up inside of Izanami, understanding why the woman would be so distraught. Despite not being a parent herself, Izanami could only imagine what sort of turmoil it would put one through to lose their child. But in order for that parent to experience turmoil they needed to actually care about their child, which this woman clearly did.

“Have you looked everywhere?” Izanami questioned.

“Yes, I’ve searched everywhere little Niko could’ve possibly gone but I have not found him. I fear that he has been taken by those monsters,” the woman’s lip quivered as she spoke.

“Monsters? What monsters?” Izanami repeated.

“You haven’t heard of the Snatchers? They’re cruel people who prey off of unsupervised children and sell them off to slavery. My son is only five and he’s too young to experience such suffering,” the woman cried.

“Oh,” Akane murmured, feeling somewhat disappointed since those monsters weren’t the monsters that she thought they were. Her disappointment was soon replaced with anger at the thought of someone doing something so cruel to children.

“Will you please help me find Niko? He is the only ray of light out of the darkness that has corrupted my soul,” the woman pleaded.

“Of course I’ll help you…” Izanami trailed off, waiting for the woman to give up her name.

“My name is Gen,” the woman introduced herself. “It would be helpful if you told me what your name was too.

“My name is Izanami,” Izanami replied. “Alright, where do you think these _Snatchers_ take the children once they’ve got them?”

“I’m not sure. They always disappear off north, near the old abandoned training grounds where the earthbenders used to train. After that, it’s almost as though they disappear into thin air,” Gen replied.

“I’ll help you get your son back, Gen,” Izanami promised. “Let’s go and check out the area ourselves to see if we can find anything.”

“Would you be able to use your firebending to guide the way once it gets dark?” Gen asked.

“Firebending? How’d you know that I could firebend?” Izanami asked, surprised.

“Well, I assumed that you were Fire Nation based on your attire and your name which made me assume that you could bend,” Gen supplied.

“Oh. I guess wearing my training gear isn’t the best way to blend in then,” Izanami said sheepishly. “But why would you want my help anyways if I’m Fire Nation?”

“The war is over, Izanami. I would like to think that not all Fire Nation people are bad, especially after the company that I have acquired from the Fire Nation,” Gen replied.

Izanami nodded, “Well, you’re right in the sense that not all of us are bad… Just misguided, that’s all.”

“I have been fortunate enough to experience good will from the Fire Nation, even from those who had no reason to give me such,” Gen admitted.

“Well, we’ve got no time to waste so lets see if we can find your son,” Izanami stated.

Gen nodded, “Let’s hope so.”

Although Izanami had more pressing matters to worry about, there was something inside of her that felt compelled to help Gen find her son. It was almost as if Izanami knew this woman from somewhere, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Regardless, Izanami was going to help her find her son now that she’d promised she would, and Izanami didn’t like breaking promises.

~*•°•*~

The entire journey with Gen was a lot more informative than Izanami thought it would’ve been. Within minutes Izanami was beginning to wonder if the Snatchers were just the Kemurikage considering the similarities in their stories. They always preyed on young children, as in extremely young children who were barely below ten-years-old. So Gen’s son fit the bill perfectly and Izanami had a feeling that she knew who was behind this.

Knowing that there was a possibility that Izanami would run into Azula sooner than she anticipated, Izanami prepared herself for the odd chance that she did have to face off against her old friend. This time they would be adversaries, since every other time they had gone into battle it was side by side. Now Azula had her own gang of misfits that didn’t include Izanami, which was somewhat intimidating to her since Izanami had no idea how she’d be able to handle herself against them.

Eventually they reached what Gen said was the abandoned training grounds. Once they arrived, Izanami could certainly see why it had been an area preserved for training since it seemed like the perfect spot to practice earthbending. Granted, Izanami didn’t really know much about the other bending arts but she had certainly seen enough from talented masters during her earlier travels. Upon further investigation, Izanami couldn’t seem to find anything that would put Gen at ease, but then they heard the estranged cries from the distance.

“Momma!”

“Niko!” Gen gasped.

Turning around, Izanami spotted a little boy running towards them from the distance. As he got closer, Izanami was struck by an air of familiarity with him. There was just something about the boy that Izanami recognised from somewhere and she wasn’t sure what it was, and not knowing that was bugging her.

“My baby, don’t you ever run away from me again,” Gen cried as she picked Niko up into her arms.

“Is he alright?” Izanami asked.

“He seems fine. Are you fine?” Gen replied as she examined her son.

Niko nodded, “Yes, momma. The men with ponytails looked after me.”

“Ponytails?” Izanami repeated.

“Yeah, they took me but it was okay because they didn’t hurt me. They just said that they were waiting for you and your friend,” Niko replied.

“They said that?” Gen asked.

“Yeah, they said that they wanted you,” Niko said.

“And why’s that?” Izanami questioned as she stepped back a bit, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly nervous.

“Because now we can finally achieve our revenge.”

Looking around in shock, Izanami was stunned to see what appeared to be members of the Dai Li surrounding them. They hardly looked well groomed like they used to before, and Izanami had a feeling that that was what came with being outcasted from society because of their crimes against the Earth Kingdom and their actions in the Fire Nation.

“I-Izanami, who are these people?” Gen asked.

“They’re the Dai Li. They’re a group of earthbenders who used to patrol Ba Sing Se during the war. Then they betrayed their country for the Fire Nation and got banished from there as well,” Izanami explained.

“Yes, we did get banished,” the one in the front glared at Izanami. “By the princess who we pledged our loyalty to. We risked being branded as traitors for her. We gave up our country’s freedom and protection for her, only for her to repay us by banishing us!”

“In her defence, she wasn’t exactly _sane_ then and you can’t blame her for banishing you after you so easily betrayed your old leader!” Izanami exclaimed.

“It is not like we would’ve had anything to gain by betraying her as well since then we would have nowhere to go. The fact of the matter is that us – the great Dai Li – have been forced to live as _outcasts_ for the past year! But now it is time for us to get the vengeance that we deserve, starting with you,” another Dai Li agent declared.

“But what do I have to do with this?” Gen demanded.

“Oh, you know _exactly_ what you have to do with this, peasant. You are the lowest of traitors, betraying your people the way you did. Now your offspring will pay the price,” the agent in the middle proclaimed.

“You can’t do this to us, because I won’t let you,” Izanami said as she prepared herself for battle.

The middle Dai Li agent laughed, “Foolish girl. It would seem as though you’ve forgotten our methods of attack, shame on you.”

Before Izanami even had time to register what was happening, the Dai Li guards moved swiftly to create some sort of rock hands with earthbending. That was when Izanami remembered their signature rock gloves that came in handy when it came to detaining people, which was exactly what they did. Both her and Gen soon found themselves knocked down on the floor, with the arms and legs bound together by rock gloves.

“M-momma, what’s this?” Niko asked nervously.

“It’s okay, baby. Just stay calm and be a good boy for momma,” Gen whimpered.

“Now that you’re in our hands, you don’t just have to be a good boy for momma, but a good boy for us as well. We’re going to teach you the ways that you should be taught. Not with the lies she has raised you with,” the Dai Li agent smirked.

“No! Don’t hurt my baby! He doesn’t deserve this!” Gen pleaded.

Her pleas were easily ignored as the Dai Li agents quickly gathered them up and started dragging them away. Izanami watched with sadness as she saw Gen separated from her son yet again, but she couldn’t help but wonder what the Dai Li had meant by Gen being the lowest of traitors. In the short time that Izanami had spent with the woman, she didn’t think that Gen was the traitor type. But she obviously had some importance to the Dai Li if they would go as far to take her away from her son as revenge.

At the same time, Izanami had no idea how she managed to fit into all of this. Somehow, the Dai Li had managed to figure out that she was on their soil once again. However that was, Izanami knew that she needed to find some way to get away from the Dai Li’s clutches with Gen and Niko behind her as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's safe to say that Izanami's mission hasn't exactly gone as planned, just like this story has. This chapter was supposed to detail some of the events that took place during the Search, but that was before I changed the outline that I had originally planned. As always, reviews are welcomed and encouraged so let me know what you think of this and what you think is going to happen next.
> 
> As for the names, Gen is a Japanese name that means spring and Niko is a Japanese name that means daylight.


	37. Hoping for Help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are certainly going to get interesting by the end of this chapter and I’m really looking forward to the plot that the rest of this story will have.

Getting captured by the Dai Li had certainly _not_ been on Izanami’s To Do List. If anything, she had completely forgotten about the secret police of Ba Sing Se. It wasn’t until Niko said ‘the men with ponytails looked after him’ that Izanami remembered their odd hairstyle. Being outcasted by society certainly hadn’t done the Dai Li any favours since Izanami was actually afraid of them this time. Last time, Azula had been there to keep the Dai Li in check but Azula wasn’t around to do that now. Azula was nowhere in sight.

After they were initially captured by the Dai Li, Gen and Izanami had been separated from Niko, much to Gen’s despair. As much as Gen was trying to show that she was coping without her son, it was clear to Izanami that the woman was desperate to have her little boy in her arms again. Even though Izanami had just met Gen, she was determined to make that happened because she could see that Gen loved Niko and she didn’t want her to have to feel misery over her sons separation.

The whole time that they were taken by the Dai Li, they were blindfolded so Izanami had no idea where they were until the blindfold was ripped away from her face and she found herself in what appeared to be a cellar of some sorts. Hunched over in a corner was Gen, who finally gave in to the emotions that were overwhelming her without the Dai Li around to see.

“It’ll be okay, Gen. We’ll get out of here and we’ll get Niko too,” Izanami tried reassuring her.

“But he’s my little boy. He’s the only light in my life. Without him I have nothing,” Gen cried.

“Nothing? Not even a family of your own?” Izanami asked.

Gen shook her head, “I was taken from my family when I was ten-years-old. I haven’t seen or heard from them ever since.”

“I guess that’s something that we have in common then,” Izanami commented.

“What do you mean?” Gen wondered.

“Well, I haven’t seen my parents in over a year. They walked out on me after I made a choice that they didn’t agree with,” Izanami replied.

“That’s so sad,” Gen murmured. “Parents should never abandon their children, no matter what choices they make. People who can’t support their children should never be parents.”

“People who manipulate their children for their own selfish needs shouldn’t be parents,” Izanami muttered, referring to how Ozai had controlled Azula throughout her life and made her into his puppet.

“So I guess that means we have no parents to rescue us then,” Gen said.

“But what about Niko’s father? Won’t he realise that you’re missing and come find you?” Izanami questioned.

Gen sighed, “Niko’s father… isn’t around. It’s just been us two together.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Izanami apologised.

“It’s okay, you didn’t know. Not many people know anyways. I prefer to keep it that way,” Gen stated.

“Gen, can I ask you something?” Izanami waited until she got Gen’s approval. “What did the Dai Li mean by saying that you were the worst kind of traitors?”

“Those traitors don’t know what they’re talking about,” Gen muttered. “In their eyes I might be a traitor, but I don’t consider myself as such. Any choices that I made were out of love, and they can’t fault me for that. At least I didn’t betray my entire country like they did.”

It was then that Izanami realised just how similar she was to the Dai Li. They had all betrayed their country, even if their intentions had been different. For Izanami, she had betrayed the Fire Nation because it was what she thought was the right thing to do. As for the Dai Li, they had betrayed their country just so that they had somebody to follow after their leader, Long Feng, had been bested by Azula. Now they were all considered outcasts. Despite Izanami not officially being an outcast, she still felt like one after her actions in the war.

“What were the Dai Li talking about when they mentioned you?” Gen wondered.

Izanami sighed, “I have a bit of a… history with the Dai Li. Things turned out the way they did partly because of my efforts.”

“What do you mean?” Gen inquired.

“What do you know about the Fire Nation Royal Family, Gen?” Izanami asked.

Gen shrugged, “Not much. Just that their Fire Lord tried to wipe out the Earth Kingdom but was stopped by the Avatar. And that his son had betrayed the country to help the Avatar and is now the Fire Lord.”

“That much is true. But the current Fire Lord also has a sister, Princess Azula,” Izanami stated.

“Oh, yes. I forgot about her. She was the one who conquered Ba Sing Se, right? Then there was her uncle, General Iroh who tried to do the same but failed before she did,” Gen remembered.

“Yes,” Izanami nodded. “I’m not sure if it’s common knowledge, but Princess Azula wasn’t alone when she conquered Ba Sing Se. She had three friends with her, one of whom included me.”

“You were friends with the Fire Nation Princess?” Gen gasped.

“I was,” Izanami confirmed. “We’d first met when we were younger before becoming permanent friends later once I moved to the Capital. I’d travelled almost all over the Earth Kingdom with her when she was given the orders of bringing her brother and uncle back home. Then we found ourselves in the Earth Kingdom after she decided that she wanted to conquer Ba Sing Se. It had soon became apparent that the Dai Li were the ones who were really pulling the strings around there with the Earth King out of the loop on everything. Princess Azula managed to use that to her advantage and got the Dai Li to turn against not only the Earth Kingdom, but their old leader as well.”

“I’d heard about the Dai Li before then. They were some of the most feared earthbenders in the Earth Kingdom. Everyone knew them for their signature rock gloves,” Gen said.

“With the Dai Li on her side, conquering the Earth Kingdom became a piece of cake for Azula. She was able to defeat the Avatar for the timing being which allowed her to take control of the city,” Izanami finished.

“If you were friends with the Fire Nation Princess then how did you end up out here?’ Gen wondered.

“When we returned home, things had changed. My life at home wasn’t how I had remembered it with my parents pressuring me to do things that I didn’t want to do. Then there was the fact that Azula’s actions concerned me and I started to fear what she would do to herself if she kept going down the path that she was going on. Finally, I decided that enough was enough and made my own choice in the war which meant betraying my country and resulted in me being locked up in prison,” Izanami explained.

Gen shook her head, “You shouldn’t be imprisoned for doing what was right.”

“That’s not how things worked in the Fire Nation. Out of all the crimes, treachery was considered the worst to commit and those who did commit it regardless of why they did it met the cruellest punishment,” Izanami said.

“What happened to the princess?” Gen asked.

Izanami sighed, “She started to lose her mind with the pressure of everything that she had to deal with. Most of that pressure came from her father who wanted her to be perfect. But I soon realised that she wasn’t the person who I thought she was and it made me realise that everything I had done was wrong. Because of my betrayal, she became even worse than what she already was before she finally lost her sanity after her brother defeated her.”

“That Royal Family of yours seems like a mess,” Gen remarked.

“Trust me when I say that they were a mess. They were unlike any family that I’d ever seen before. It made me glad that I had my family even if it wasn’t perfect,” Izanami admitted. “After the war, Fire Lord Zuko released his sister so that they could find their mother together after she had disappeared. But once they’d found her, the princess ran off and didn’t show her face until months later. When she did return, she was more of a threat than ever and threatened the newfound peace in the Fire Nation. But now she’s disappeared again and nobody has heard from her since.”

“Her life honestly sounds like such a tragic story,” Gen murmured.

“It basically was. She never had anyone who really loved her apart from me. I’m not sure if her own brother even loved her since she was constantly trying to kill him. That’s not the kind of sibling that you can love,” Izanami said.

“But how did you get out here? Why are you here?” Gen questioned.

“When I heard the news of what Princess Azula had done in the Capital City, I decided that it was finally time for me to confront what I had been avoiding since my betrayal. It was about time that I confronted Azula about her actions and tried to make her see some sense,” Izanami answered.

“So now you’re tracking her?” Gen deduced.

“Yes, I am,” Izanami confirmed. “I’d heard rumours that the group of people she had been travelling with were hiding out in the Earth Kingdom. But now that I’m here, I’m starting to think that it was just an elaborate scheme by the Dai Li so that they could get their revenge on me.”

“I hope that it doesn’t come to that, Izanami,” Gen whispered. “I’ve already been through enough in one life and I can see that you have too. We cannot let them get away with this. We cannot let them hurt my little boy.”

“They won’t,” Izanami insisted. “We’ll get out of here, get Niko and then we can both move on with our lives and not worry about the Dai Li.”

“I hope we can,” Gen whispered.

Despite things not turning out how Izanami had expected them to, she fully intended to get things back on track and finish what she had set out to do. But before Izanami could do that, she’d have to escape the Dai Li’s clutches and get Gen and Niko out as well.

~*•°•*~

Not too far away from where Izanami and Gen were being held prisoner, the remaining Dai Li agents turned their focus to Niko. Their intentions with the boy was to turn him into a useful power against their enemies. Even though they weren’t exactly sure how he was going to be useful to them just yet, they were going to start small and teach him some basic earthbending moves.

However, teaching the boy seemed to be harder than they thought it would be as he refused to listen to them. All of the Dai Li agents had begun their training at thirteen-years-old and even before then, they were able to grasp the concept of obeying orders and doing as told. This boy was without a doubt their most difficult trainee yet and they were beginning to think that maybe they’d chosen the wrong protégé after all.

“That child is nothing more than an incompetent fool!” one of the Dai Li agents complained.

“Quiet, Charan. You cannot expect the boy to be an expert when he is just a child. With rigid discipline we will eventually be able to get him to complete the tasks that we set for him,” their newly established leader, Hiresh stated.

“But what are we going to do about the mother and the girl? Surely they’ll end up getting in the way at some point,” his right hand man, Hiroki pointed out.

“We will deal with them when the time is appropriate. For now we need to maintain our focus on moulding this boy into the perfect soldier for us. Then when the time is right, we will use him to our advantage so that we can get back into the good graces of the Earth King,” Hiresh proclaimed.

“It is pathetic that we have been reduced to such peasants. Had we not betrayed our country for that blasted princess, we never would’ve been in this situation,” Charan said.

“While our actions are most regrettable they are not something that we can dwell on. We must maintain our focus on regaining our control in the Earth Kingdom so that we can redeem ourselves,” Hiresh declared.

Soon after their betrayal of the Earth Kingdom which was followed by them pledging their allegiance to Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, the Dai Li had realised just what a mistake that had been. They no longer had the power that they once had in the Earth Kingdom as Princess Azula was almost impossible to manipulate. Instead of using their abilities to control the Earth Kingdom like they had done under Long Feng’s leadership, the Dai Li agents had been rendered to nothing more than the princesses bodyguards. Since they had already been disgraced in the Earth Kingdom, they would’ve made themselves to be even more outcasted by betraying the Fire Nation Princess. So they had maintained their loyalty to her because that was what was expected of them, even though it certainly wasn’t what they wanted to do.

After getting banished from the Fire Nation, the Dai Li quickly realised that there was nobody that would want their service after their previous actions. Not unless they redeemed themselves. That was what gave them the idea of luring the Princesses sidekick to the Earth Kingdom so that they could capture her and turn her in for her crimes against the Earth Kingdom. It was her who played a part in the fall of their great city, and it was time that she paid the price for her actions. As for the mother, she had made her choices many years ago and had managed to evade the truth for all these years. But she wouldn’t be able to escape the truth anymore – not on their watch.

~*•°•*~

In the days that followed, it became apparent to Izanami that the Dai Li really were trying their hardest to make her and Gen’s life miserable. They were barely feeding them, they were hardly staying hygienic and were making it impossible for them to relax. Despite their best efforts, Izanami and Gen continued to receive poor treatment and it was becoming more and more obvious that this was what they had wanted. But Izanami had her own thoughts. She believed that the Dai Li had further plans with them and that for now, this was what their situation would be.

Seeing the way that Gen acted without her son made Izanami if her parents had thought about her since they last saw her. While they hadn’t made any attempt at communicating with her, Izanami hoped that her parents would at least spare their thoughts for her every so often like she did with them. Every time one of the Dai Li agents entered their cellar, Gen immediately asked how her son was doing and if he was okay, only to get no response. But on the seventh time she asked, Gen got a response.

“Where is he? How is my son? Is he alright?” Gen asked.

“Your _son_ is nothing but an insolent and useless brat!” the Dai Li agent yelled. “Clearly you do not care enough to raise him right as he does not know how to respect his superiors.”

“Children shouldn’t be raised to respect their ‘superiors’ when they’re hardly that,” Izanami remarked.

“Stay out of this, you _ash_ _maker._ But I suppose that you feeling sympathy for the child makes sense. After all, you are both one and the same. Your blood runs through his,” the Dai Li agent said.

“What?” Izanami wondered.

“Tell me, you _traitor_ ,” the Dai Li agent hissed at Gen. “How does it feel every time you look into your sons eyes? How does it feel to know that he’s the spawn of an _ash maker_ who’s people wanted to wipe away his very existence?”

Shock went through Izanami’s system once she heard what the Dai Li agent said and she found it hard to hide her gasp. It was then that Izanami realised why the Dai Li had referred to Gen as a traitor and why they had taken such an interest in Niko. The reason because Gen had obviously been in some sort of a relationship with someone from the Fire Nation which had resulted in Niko. No wonder Gen said that his father wasn’t around.

“He’s just a child you monsters!” Gen cried.

“If anyone is the monster, it’s him! Monsters do not do _this_ to people!” the Dai Li agent shrieked as he rolled up his sleeve, revealing a severely burnt arm. “We tried to be patient with the boy, but he wouldn’t listen. Then he does this!”

“Wait, so let me understand what this is about…” Izanami interrupted his rant. “You’re upset at a five-year-old boy for not listening to you when he’s a _child_ and you’re mad at him because he burned you after the way you’ve treated him and his mother? Seems pretty just to me.”

The Dai Li agent glared at her, “Shut your mouth, you _ash maker_. I’m done with you two for now but don’t worry, I’ll be back. We’re certainly not finished with you two just yet.”

With one last glare, the Dai Li agent left the room, leaving a sniffling Gen and a confused Izanami behind. Glancing at Gen, Izanami had so many thoughts racing through her mind. Who had she been involved with? What did she have to do with all of this madness? So many questions at once, but Izanami didn’t know where to start.

“I suppose at this stage you’ve figured out that Niko is the son of a firebender,” Gen stated after a moment of silence.

“Um, yeah, I guess I’ve come to that conclusion,” Izanami murmured. “But what does this have to do with the Dai Li? Why is it such a crime for you to have gotten involved with a Fire Nation man?”

“You don’t understand the differences between treachery in your country and our country, Izanami. I’m not sure what it’s like in the Fire Nation but getting involved with someone from another nation falls under treachery here. By getting involved with a Fire Nation man, I committed the greatest act of treachery one could do,” Gen explained.

A look of understanding morphed onto Izanami’s face as she remembered her old ancestor, Akira, who had betrayed her family and country by falling in love with someone from the Water Tribe. That had resulted in her being disgraced in her family and remembered as a traitor for generations.

“I understand,” Izanami whispered.

“I know that you must have a different perception of people from the Fire Nation than what I or anyone else would have, but Niko’s father was a good man. He knew that what his people were fighting for was wrong, but he was doing it because he wanted to protect those he cared about,” Gen said.

“I’m not sure if that’s a view that most people in the Fire Nation army would’ve had during the war,” Izanami remarked.

“It wasn’t, and he knew that. When I first met him, all I wanted to do was leave him for dead when I saw that Fire Nation uniform. It’s what I thought he would’ve done if the roles had been reversed. But then I saw that helpless look in his eyes and a look that wasn’t pure evil like I thought all Fire Nation people were, I decided to give him a chance and helped him,” Gen explained.

“What happened to him?” Izanami questioned, eager to learn more about Gen’s backstory.

“He had been injured during a battle which had almost tore his arm off. As soon as I saw him, I knew that it was only a matter of time before his arm gave out so I knew that I had to do something. When the coast was clear, I took him away from the battle ground and used my healing herbs to mend his wound. My work hadn’t done much, but it had saved his arm from falling off for the time being,” Gen answered.

Shivers ran down Izanami’s spine as she remembered the time when Kazu had almost lost his arm in battle. They had found out that news from a letter that reported him missing before he was eventually found. That had almost saw Kazu’s military career over but it hadn’t ended in that way since his arm had been saved and he had been cleared for duty.

“After that, I didn’t see him again until he found me a few weeks later. He thanked me for saving his arm and said that without my work, he most likely would have lost it. Because he was still injured, I offered him help which he graciously accepted. In that time, I found myself falling for him. I knew that I could never be with him because of our stances in the war. But when he told me he loved me the night before he was scheduled to be moved elsewhere, he told me he reciprocated those feelings and I’m sure you can imagine what happened next,” Gen continued.

“Yeah, I can,” Izanami cringed. “That sounds like one tragic love story.”

“It was. But one good thing came out of it, little Niko. Even though I haven’t seen his father since, I know where he gets his looks from. He gets his looks from his father as well as his firebending, which had always been a thought in the back of my mind. Part of me had hoped that Niko wouldn’t grow up to be a firebender because of the perception of them. Now I’m not sure what this means for our future,” Gen finished.

“I’m sure you’ll get through this together. Your love for Niko should be enough to get through the tough times,” Izanami reassured her.

“It already has. My love for Niko is as strong as it was for his father. But nothing could ever make me stop loving the man who gave me a son. Nothing could make me stop loving Kazu,” Gen proclaimed.

Once again, a wave of shock went through Izanami’s system. She almost fell back in shock at Gen’s proclamation. Only now that Gen had revealed that last detail did Izanami realise where she had recognised Niko from when she first saw him. He was almost the spitting image of her older brother Kazu was when he was that age.

No wonder Izanami had felt some sort of a connection to that boy despite barely meeting him properly. She had literally been looking into the ghost of her brother standing before her in the form of a five-year-old child. Unless Gen was referring to an entirely different person, Izanami was ninety percent positive that she was being trapped with the mother of her brothers son.

That also meant that Niko was her nephew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that chapter turned out longer than expected and for a good reason too. Did anybody see that coming? On another note, I’ve really got a thing for incorporating star-crossed lovers into my stories. I’ve done it twice in this one now with Akira and Sachiko along with Kazu and Gen. Then there’s the small love story I wrote into my other fic, Blinding Horizon. It was a few chapters ago when I thought about giving Izanami a secret nephew/niece but it wouldn’t have worked with the plot that I originally had so when I made the changes that I did, I figured why not put it in? When Izanami mentions Kazu’s arm-threatening injury, it was first referenced in Chapter 15 – Wishful Thinking.  
> Since I love giving facts, Charan and Hiresh are names of Sanskrit origin that mean feet and king of gems respectively and Hiroki is a Japanese name that means big tree.


	38. Let it Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whenever I write stories, I always tend to follow the outline that I had planned but I seemed to have forgotten that with this chapter. For the most part, I followed the outline where Izanami and Gen had their talk, but then I deviated from the plot a bit with what I had originally written after that. What I have now added was in the original plan for this chapter, but I completely forgot it until I was going back over the outline of the story. If you guys want more chapters of this story, then please leave some reviews over at fanfiction.net since I go by updates based on the response that I get from there. Also, this chapter has nothing to do with that earworm of a song “Let it Go” from Frozen, I just thought that the song was an appropriate title for this chapter.

Sitting there after her revelations from Gen’s words, Izanami had no idea how to react. There was a possibility that Gen was the mother of her nephew – a nephew that she didn’t even know she had. It would’ve explained why Izanami had recognised Niko from somewhere. Despite the shard of doubt that she was just reading too much into this, Izanami knew that the chances were, that was her nephew who was in the clutches of the Dai Li.

“I just hope that wherever he is, Kazu can still remember me and that despite our different backgrounds, he still loves me,” Gen whispered.

It was then that Izanami realised that Gen wouldn’t know that Kazu had actually died and she found her heart breaking all over again. Not just for Gen, but for herself, too. Losing Kazu was something that Izanami was still yet to deal with.

“He’s in a better place now, but I’m sure that he died loving you,” Izanami found her voice.

Gen whipped her head towards her, “What makes you say that?”

“Because I know my brother, and he’s not the kind of person to stop loving someone no matter what happens,” Izanami replied.

“Your _brother_?” Gen’s eyes widened.

“Unless I’ve gotten this incredibly wrong, then the Kazu that you know is the Kazu that was my brother,” Izanami clarified.

“Wait a minute… _You’re_ Izzy?” Gen questioned in shock.

“I guess I am,” Izanami murmured, remembering the nickname that her brother had affectionately called her.

“Kazu told me that he had a younger sister, but he only ever referred to you as Izzy just like he referred to his parents as mother and father. I never would’ve connected those dots…” Gen trailed off.

“We live in a small world,” Izanami remarked.

“You said that he’s in a better place…” Gen’s face fell.

“I’m sorry, but he died during the war. It’s been over a year,” Izanami confirmed.

“Oh. I suppose that this would be a stupid question, but did he ever mention me?” Gen asked.

Izanami shook her head, “I never heard from Kazu personally after he left when I was seven. The only times I did hear from him were from letters, which only ever came rarely. The last letter that I even got from him was three years before he died.”

“So the last time you saw him was when you were a child? That’s horrible,” Gen sighed.

“Believe me, it was. I missed him every day he was gone. There wasn’t a moment that went by when I didn’t think about what he was doing or wondering if he was thinking about me,” Izanami recalled.

“He did talk about you a lot, if it’s any consultation. There was a way that he talked about you that wasn’t like the way he talked about anyone else. His eyes just lit up whenever he talked about you. I always hoped that I’d get the chance to meet you one day. Certainly not under these circumstances,” Gen said.

“I share the same sentiment with you, although I never would’ve expected to meet you since I had no idea that someone like you existed,” Izanami admitted.

“Kazu did say that it would be safer for both of us if nobody ever knew that we were involved,” Gen stated.

“I have to ask you this question though… did he ever know about Niko? Was it something that you kept from him?” Izanami questioned.

Gen sighed, “I found out that I was pregnant with Niko shortly after your brother got transferred again. I tried tracking him down, but there was only so much that I could do without putting all of us at risk. I knew that Kazu would’ve wanted us both to be safe and that he’d come find me if he could, so all this time I’ve been waiting for him to find me. Now I know that he never will.”

Sympathy welled up inside of Izanami, since she knew exactly how Gen was feeling. For nine years Izanami had sat and waited for Kazu to come home to her like he promised. Only when Kazu did come home, it was certainly not the reunion that Izanami would’ve expected. The closest that Izanami had gotten to a reunion with her brother was looking at his bruised and battered face before he was buried. That certainly wasn’t the kind of reunion that she was expecting to have.

There had certainly been plenty of times when Izanami had imagined how her reunion with Kazu would have gone, filled with tears and hugs. Tears had certainly been involved but not the tears of happiness that Izanami had thought she would experience. Even now it was hard to think about Kazu without crying tears of sadness.

“I know what you mean,” Izanami spoke up. “I spent nine years hoping that I would see my brother again. There were some times when I even forgot what he looked like or wondered if I would even recognise him and just that alone was enough to destroy me.”

“Now I have nothing to look for. Knowing that Kazu won’t be coming to find me, it’s just like, okay there’s nothing waiting for me anymore,” Gen murmured.

“But there is,” Izanami grabbed her hand. “You have Niko out there, fighting off the Dai Li agents who are trying to make him into something that he certainly won’t be. We’ve gotta get out of this together so that we can be with Niko.”

“You’re right. I won’t let those men corrupt my little boy,” Gen nodded.

Having this newfound connection with Gen, Izanami knew that they had to get out of this mess together. Maybe once they were out, they both could finally be free from the grief that still hung over them. Finding out that Gen was the mother of her brothers son made Izanami realised that she was certainly not over her brothers death like she thought she was.

It was time that Izanami stopped wallowing about something that she couldn’t change. If anything, she owed it to Kazu.

~*•°•*~

_Most dreams that Izanami had were strange. Strange in the sense that they were all so vivid and she could see herself in them, but when she woke up the next morning she could hardly remember anything that happened. So when Izanami recognised herself standing in front of Kazu, she hoped more than anything that she would remember this dream when she woke up._

_“Kazu?” Izanami murmured._

_“Hey, Izzy,” he smiled._

_Tears fell down Izanami’s face when she realised that this dream was really happening. But those tears also came from the fact that this was something that she’d never get to experience in real life._

_“What is this? What’s going on?” Izanami wondered._

_“I don’t have much time, Izzy. I just needed to speak with you, to clear the air between us since I never got the chance to,” Kazu said._

_“What do you mean you don’t have much time?” Izanami asked._

_“You were right in saying that I was in a better place. But that place means that I can’t be with you like I would like to be,” Kazu replied._

_“Oh, Kazu. I miss you so much,” Izanami cried. “Why did you have to leave me?”_

_“Believe me, it wasn’t a choice. If I could’ve had anything to do with it, I certainly would not have left you for as long as I did and I definitely would not have gone out the way that I did. But in some way, I am glad that I got to go because it made everything become so clear to me, even if it did bring me my untimely end,” Kazu said._

_“You always made something bad turn out to be something good, like the time when we were both grounded but you made it one of the best days ever. I liked that about you,” Izanami sniffled._

_“And I liked that you were my sister. We had a relationship and an understanding that was unlike anything that I had with mother and father. You loved me no matter what and there was nothing that I could do that wouldn’t make you love me. As for mother and father, I had to work to earn their love and admiration. I thought that fighting in the war was something that would give me that, but it didn’t,” Kazu revealed._

_“When you left Kazu, it was like anything that was holding our family together fell apart. It was almost like I was nothing to mother and father. They only started acting like I was worth something to them when I befriended Princess Azula,” Izanami muttered._

_“That certainly wasn’t something that I would’ve expected from you to befriend someone like that. Then again, you always did love playing with your princess dolls so I guess you befriending a Fire Nation Princess makes sense. You always tried to save the princesses from the evil knights. It’s a shame that you couldn’t save the princess from herself,” Kazu said._

_Izanami’s face fell, “I tried, Kazu. I tried so hard to keep Azula together. But the harder I tried the more I seemed to be losing myself while at the same time, realising things that I never even realised before. If I hadn’t befriended Azula, I never would’ve realised just how messed up things were in the world. I would’ve just remained an ignorant Fire Nation citizen, completely oblivious to the turmoil in the world.”_

_“Then it was good for you to befriend the Fire Nation Princess. But you need to stop making your entire life about her. For almost five years you have just let your life revolve around her and what she’s doing or what other people want you to do. Stop trying to save her because the only person who can save the princess is herself,” Kazu proclaimed._

_“But then she won’t even be saved. Azula has no idea that what she’s doing isn’t right. She needs someone to help her,” Izanami insisted._

_“That’s something she can figure out on her own, just like I did. It was only once I was away from the influence of anyone else where I started to think that what I was fighting for wasn’t right and actually started doing what I wanted to do with my life. Even if I did get punished for it, I at least died fighting for what I believed in,” Kazu stated._

_“What do you mean?” Izanami asked._

_“Listen, Izanami. Not everything is what it seems to be. Surely you would have realised that by now with what you have seen in the world. There are certain things that have been swept under the rug and you don’t even realise it,” Kazu replied._

_“That’s basically everything in my life,” Izanami muttered, since everything in her life up until this point had almost been a mystery to her._

_“I’m running out of time to speak to you, Izzy, but just remember that justice always prevails. Justice prevailed in the war with Fire Lord Ozai and there is still more justice that needs to be done,” Kazu said cryptically._

_“I don’t want you to go again,” Izanami sniffled._

_“You have no idea just how much I wish I could be with you right now, Izzy. But I have to go,” Kazu sighed. “Just remember to be a good Aunt Izzy to my little boy and train him to be a kick ass firebender.”_

_Izanami smiled, “I’ll train him like we would’ve wanted to be trained.”_

_“And tell Gen that I still think about her too and that I’m glad she’s safe, even if she isn’t right now,” Kazu stated._

_“You’ve got it. I’ll see you on the other side,” Izanami said._

_“But not too soon though, Izzy. You’ve still got so much left to do in this world. It’s going to be fun to see what you become and just know that through everything, I’ll be watching you from where I am,” Kazu smiled._

_Izanami nodded, “I’ve always liked to have thought that you were standing over me, but now that I know you are for sure it’ll definitely give me some comfort.”_

_“Now get my son and my girl out of this mess,” Kazu ordered._

_“You can count on me,” Izanami smiled, since she planned on doing just that._

Waking up with a start, Izanami looked around to make sure that she knew where she was. When she realised that she was still in the same place where she had gone to sleep, Izanami rested back down onto what was her bed, even if it was hardly a bed. Slowly, Izanami glanced over to where Gen was sleeping peacefully after struggling to do so with worries of Niko keeping her up all night. Only now Izanami was the one who would be struggling to get to sleep with thoughts of her brother still lingering in her mind.

Of all the dreams that she has had, that dream with Kazu would have to be the most bizarre one of them all. Simply because it had almost come at the perfect time, right when Izanami needed something like that to happen. He had showed up in her dream to inspire her and give her courage, which was exactly what he had done. But Kazu had also instilled questions in her that she didn’t even think needed to be answered.

What had he meant by saying that everything wasn’t what it seemed? Even before going off with Azula during the war Izanami had known that not everything was always the way that people wanted it to be seen. It almost sounded like Kazu was talking about himself in a way. But Izanami could worry about Kazu’s words later because right now, she had something more important to worry about. Like figuring out how the heck was she supposed to get her nephew and his mother out of this mess.

~*•°•*~

After surprisingly seeing Kazu in her dream, Izanami had stayed up all night wondering about what he had said to her and what it could possibly mean. Some of the things that he had said sounded very vague, like they were supposed to be that way and he expected her to figure out what they meant. But figuring out her brothers riddles was the last thing on Izanami’s mind at the moment, because all she wanted to do was break out of this cellar with her nephew and his mother. Her patience was running thin, and there was only so much that Izanami would put up with.

As a firebender, patience was never something that Izanami had on her side. She wasn’t an impatient mess, but waiting around was never something that she liked doing. Especially when she couldn’t afford to wait around, like now when her nephew was in danger. Understandably so, Gen was still a mess about the thought of losing her sweet little boy to the Dai Li agents. But if they were to rescue Niko from them, that was something that they’d have to do together.

“Gen, I know you’re scared and worried about Niko, but we can’t wait around like this,” Izanami proclaimed.

“Then what do you suggest we do?” Gen asked.

“We get out of here. I can use my firebending to blast through that door and then we can find Niko on our own somehow. If we have to deal with any Dai Li agents, just make sure that you don’t get your hands rocked together,” Izanami ordered.

“But what if they hurt my baby?” Gen murmured fearfully.

“They’re already probably hurting him now after what he did with his firebending. We can save him and make sure that he’s alright, and I can help him become the firebender that he was supposed to be,” Izanami declared.

“But what if they hurt us?” Gen worried.

“If they hurt us, it won’t be that bad. I’m a firebender and you’re a kick-ass mom so we should be able to handle a few men with ponytails and their gloves,” Izanami said, trying to encourage Gen.

“If you’re sure…” Gen trailed off hesitantly.

“I’m sure,” Izanami nodded.

With Gen on board, Izanami slowly headed up the stairs that lead to the door that the Dai Li used to enter the room. It wasn’t like any normal door, because it was made out of earth so the Dai Li could only enter it using earthbending, which was why Izanami would have to break through it on her own. Mustering up all of the power that she could, Izanami unleashed a powerful blast of fire that was more than enough to break through that door.

“Let’s go!” Izanami yelled to Gen.

Since Niko could’ve been anywhere, they really didn’t have the time to mess around which was why Izanami grabbed Gen before the woman could even react. Within a few seconds Izanami could hear a commotion coming from down the corridor where their cellar had been, so she knew that the Dai Li would be chasing after them.

Sure enough, just as Izanami and Gen ran past a corner she saw several rock gloves get fired at the wall that they had just ran past. As she felt the Dai Li approaching them, Izanami augmented fire into the hallway, hoping that it would be able to slow the Dai Li down as they searched for Niko. Having no idea where he could possibly be, all they could do was check each and every room for any sign of him while being prepared to face off against any Dai Li agents.

Each room that they found seemed to lead to nothing, so Izanami was beginning to get frustrated at not being able to find her nephew. There was no way that she’d be leaving him in the clutches of the Dai Li, not after she had just found out that he existed. Just when Izanami was beginning to worry if she’d ever find Niko, she had passed a corridor and was basically shocked at what she saw.

Because standing right before her was Niko with his fists outstretched and a Dai Li agent knocked out under his feet. There was no doubt in her mind that he had done that, and she couldn’t help but be proud of him.

“You’re momma’s friend!” Niko exclaimed.

“Yes, I am,” Izanami smiled. “And I’m going to get you back to your momma, so come with me.”

There was no time to worry about how Niko had managed to get away from the Dai Li’s clutches, all she wanted to do was get out of here with him and Gen. In the process of trying to find her kidnapped nephew, Izanami had lost track of Gen and groaned at the thought of having to track her down as well. But it didn’t take her long to track Gen down again, because once she passed the nearest corner, she found her restrained by a Dai Li agent.

“Momma!” Niko cried, clutching onto Izanami fearfully.

“My baby!” Gen exclaimed.

“Yes, your baby that should be with us,” said the Dai Li agent who had his arm wrapped around Gen in a choke-hold position.

“No, he shouldn’t be, because he’s not _your_ son. Regardless of who his father is, that gives you no right to take him away from his mother,” Izanami said.

“Ah, so you know your relation now,” the Dai Li agent stated.

“Yes, I do. And that just makes me more determined to get you away from them because they’re _my_ family,” Izanami glared at him.

“You would really claim a half-breed brat?” the Dai Li agent hissed.

“Yes, because he is my nephew and I’ll protect him just like I wish I could’ve protected my brother,” Izanami declared.

“How do you plan to do that? You’re surrounded,” the Dai Li agent gestured to the other agents who had found them. “If you surrender now without a fight, we promise that no harm will come to that brat of yours.”

“Never!” Izanami seethed.

Before anybody could react, Izanami got into a firebending stance and conjured a powerful blast of fire behind her and unleashed it on the Dai Li agents surrounding her. That had given her enough time to think, but not enough time to get out. But Izanami didn’t know _how_ to get out. How could she, when she had no idea where to go? She needed something to cause destruction, because if this place was falling apart before their eyes it would leave the Dai Li defenceless. But how?

_If there’s anything that provides destruction, it’s lightning._

Izanami wasn’t sure why Azula’s voice entered her head at that point in time, but in a desperate attempt to save those she cared about, she decided to go with it anyways. Her fear of lightning was incomparable to the fear of losing those she cared about, and she feared losing Niko and Gen right now. Never before had Izanami even attempted lightning generation, so she had no idea what she really was supposed to do. She then remembered watching Azula’s lessons, and how Azula had always said that you needed to have a piece of mind or complete absence of emotion.

Despite the chaos that was around her, Izanami was able to clear her mind and get rid of the panic that had outdone any other emotion that she was feeling. With that in check, Izanami slowly moved her arms around in a circular motion, trying to mimic the movements that she had seen Azula done so many times before. When Izanami heard the cackling of electricity around her, she almost couldn’t believe it until she saw the lightning that was coming from her fingers. It wasn’t anything like Azula’s lightning, but it was still lightning.

Once it was powerful enough to Izanami’s standards, she thrusted her left arm upwards, unleashing a powerful strike of lightning at the roof which destroyed it upon impact. The impact of the lightning strike had been enough to cause the roof to collapse, but Izanami could see the light that was above her. That was the escape route that she needed. There was no time to freak out about the fact that she had just performed lightning generation. She could do that later. Right now, she had to get her nephew and his mother out of here.

While the Dai Li agents scrambled to keep their structure upright, Izanami grabbed hold of Gen who had been released from her hold and Niko as well. After ordering Gen to keep Niko held tightly on her, Izanami remained focused until she saw the perfect opening and kicked her feet down, allowing herself to propel them up into the air with her firebending. This was something that Izanami had only ever done once before, during the events that occurred at the Boiling Rock since like lightning generation, jet propulsion was a difficult move to learn.

Whatever blast Izanami had conjured was enough to get them into the air, narrowly avoiding the falling debris that came from the collapsing roof. As sad as it was, Izanami felt no sympathy for the Dai Li agents who were undoubtedly being crushed by it as they rocketed away. But Izanami could only hold onto Gen and Niko for so long as their weight became too much to carry, and she knew that she had to get them off her safely.

“Be careful!” Izanami yelled as she let go of them, allowing them to fall onto the roof that was collapsing behind them.

Having completely drained herself of any energy, it was only a few seconds later when Izanami landed on the roof as well, struggling to keep herself steady. But knowing that the roof was collapsing behind them and that if she didn’t run across it fast enough she’d end up right back to where she started was enough to keep Izanami moving, racing after Gen and Niko.

When they reached the edge of the roof, Gen jumped off of it first before gesturing for Izanami to throw Niko down to her, which she did before jumping down herself, just as the roof collapsed behind her.

They had made it out. They had escaped, and in a pretty incredible fashion too. But before Izanami could jump up and celebrate, she spotted two figures approaching them from the distance. After dealing with what they had just dealt with, Izanami wasn’t going to take any chances so she instantly got into a battle position as she waited for them to make any sudden movements.

As the two figures approached them, she noticed how one of them was quite clearly bigger than the other which made her nervous for a fight, since she wasn’t that big. But as they got closer and closer, Izanami found her eyes drawn to one of the two figures before she looked directly in the eyes of one of them and gasped in recollection.

She had seen those eyes before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To those who read the original chapter, I’m sorry for confusing people with the sudden change around but for the sake of the outline that I had planned, I needed to go back and add that part in. But damn, that escape turned out longer than I thought it would. It was necessary to have it in this chapter because of the new cliff-hanger at the end, which you’ll see in the next chapter. Bet you guys weren’t expecting to see Kazu pop up like that, but I figured that Izanami at least deserved one last proper goodbye with her brother so that she could finally finish her grieving and help Gen cope too. That doesn’t mean that Izanami will be over it, she just won’t let it bother her as much as she has so far. It would seem as though Kazu’s parting words have left his sister with something to ponder, so I’ll leave you guys to ponder that in the reviews which I really would appreciate.


	39. Moving Forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've already read the previous chapter before I posted this, then I would advise you to go back and re-read it because I added a change that needed to be there and you'll be left feeling really confused if you don't.

Staring into the eyes of the figures who had come to approach them, Izanami widened her eyes in surprise as she recognised one pair of those eyes. The other pair of eyes was a complete mystery to Izanami, but as she recognised the first eyes she recognised their face and remembered where she had seen them before. At the time, they were eyes that Izanami never would’ve thought that she’d see again.

“Raiden?” Izanami stated in shock.

He stepped backwards, “How do you know my name?”

“We’ve met before,” Izanami replied as she got up. “Remember? Ember Island? Chan’s party?”

“Oh!” Raiden exclaimed in recollection. “Izanami, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it is,” Izanami nodded. “What are you both doing here?”

“We could ask you the same question,” Raiden remarked.

“We heard a bunch of chaos going on over here, so we went to check it out ourselves,” the guy with him replied.

“Sounds like a bomb went off,” Raiden commented.

“Yeah, and we should probably get out of here before the Dai Li come out to get us,” Izanami hissed.

“The Dai Li?” Raiden narrowed his eyes.

“Come on!” Izanami exclaimed as she dragged Gen and Niko along with her.

As they ran off, Izanami couldn’t help but look back at what had been the Dai Li’s hiding place. It appeared to be some sort of abandoned building from the outside that now had no use to anyone as it burned down before them. Izanami almost couldn’t believe that she had caused that much destruction with a simple blast of lightning.

That was when Izanami finally gave herself time to relish in her actions. She had just performed lightning generation, easily the most advanced firebending move there was. Granted, her blast of lightning had been nowhere near as impressive as Azula’s was, but she had still done it. It was something that Izanami never thought that she’d be able to do, considering her fear of lightning. But she had done it anyways, and she was glad that she did.

“Can someone explain what was going on back there?” the guy with Raiden asked.

“Can you tell us who you are before I answer that?” Izanami crossed her arms.

“This is my younger brother, Kei Lo,” Raiden replied.

Izanami’s eyes widened as she recognised the name. That was the name of Mai’s now ex-boyfriend, Kei Lo. Upon looking closely at him, Izanami could see that he was a lot like Ty Lee had described him and assumed that he was the same person.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Kei Lo questioned nervously.

“Sorry, it’s just that I know you. Well, I don’t really _know_ you personally but I know of you,” Izanami clarified.

Kei Lo looked confused, “Huh?”

“We have an uh… mutual friend. Your ex-girlfriend,” Izanami supplied.

“Oh,” Kei Lo murmured. “You mean Mai?”

“Yeah, Mai,” Izanami confirmed.

“Then I guess I know of you two, since Mai told me a lot about you. She said that you’d gone to some island…” Kei Lo trailed off.

“I did, Ember Island, actually,” Izanami glanced at Raiden. “But I left because I had given myself a mission that I needed to accomplish. A mission that I have so far failed.”

“Well, we know you but we don’t know who they are,” Raiden pointed at Gen and Niko.

“This is my nephew, Niko, and his mother, Gen,” Izanami introduced them.

“They both look pretty shaken up,” Raiden observed. “Are you alright?”

“We need some rest. We’ve had a crazy past few days,” Gen panted.

“Not just crazy, tough,” Izanami added.

“Do you both need somewhere to stay?” Raiden asked.

“Yes please,” Izanami nodded.

“Then we can take you to our place so you can rest,” Kei Lo offered.

Izanami smiled, “Thank you.”

They had come to an agreement that Izanami, Gen and Niko would join Raiden and Kei Lo, who Izanami never would’ve imagined meeting again like this. At the same time, Izanami could see why their paths would cross again like this since after all, it was a small world out there.

~*•°•*~

Luckily for them, Raiden and Kei Lo weren’t staying too far away from where they had found them. Izanami had learned that they were here together after deciding to travel more of the world since they hadn’t seen it before. There was a bit of awkwardness between Izanami and Kei Lo, which she assumed came from the fact that she knew his ex-girlfriend. From what Izanami knew about their break-up, it had been Mai who broke up with him. And she had assumed that a certain Fire Lord had something to do with it.

As for Raiden, he had been nothing but helpful to them, volunteering to look after Niko who had sustained quite a few injuries from his time with the Dai Li. Then there was Gen who just wanted some proper rest after their ordeal, because it had left her feeling physically and mentally exhausted. But Izanami was coping quite alright, since she hadn’t gotten hurt too much in the process of their great escape.

“I’ve put Niko to bed with his mother like you asked,” Raiden said as he sat down with Izanami.

“Thank you,” Izanami smiled. “We’ve had a rough couple of days, so we could all use some rest.”

“Would you mind telling me what on earth was going on back there?” Raiden questioned.

Izanami sighed, “Where do I even begin? To explain it simply, we had been captured by the Dai Li. They’re a fierce group of earthbenders who used to run as Ba Sing Se’s secret police before betraying their country for the Fire Nation.”

“I’d heard of them before, and I knew that they played a part in the city’s downfall,” Raiden nodded.

“So did I,” Izanami added.

Raiden’s eyes widened, “What?”

“Do you remember the people who I was with at Chan’s party?” Izanami questioned, and Raiden shook his head in response. “Well, one of them was Princess Azula, the same girl who conquered Ba Sing Se. She was my friend.”

“I can’t imagine the Fire Princess being the type to have friends,” Raiden remarked.

“Well, we were friends. I actually first met her at Ember Island ten years ago. We formed a more solid friendship when I moved to the Capital, and we’d been close ever since. I travelled the Earth Kingdom with her, I did some things that I’m not entirely proud of with her. I conquered the Earth Kingdom with her,” Izanami explained.

“Oh,” Raiden nodded in understanding. “And so the Dai Li wanted revenge because they’re now outcasts in the Fire Nation as well.”

“Yes, they did,” Izanami confirmed. “They were going to convert my nephew to one of them because my brother was his father and Gen, an Earth Kingdom woman, was his mother.”

“That’s just cruel,” Raiden shook his head.

“It was. They were the family that I didn’t even know I had until a few days ago. It wasn’t until Niko could firebend and Gen revealed who his father was that I knew he was my nephew,” Izanami replied.

“But, what were you doing here in the first place?” Raiden wondered.

“I came here because I was hoping to track down Princess Azula. Our friendship had suffered a falling out during the war after I betrayed her, which was the beginning of her end. After my betrayal, she threw me into prison for treason. But I got out on the day of Sozin’s Comet and I haven’t seen her since she last visited me. I haven’t had the guts to face her until now,” Izanami explained.

“What made you think that she’d be in the Earth Kingdom, of all places?” Raiden questioned.

“The last time Azula made a public appearance was in the Fire Nation under the disguise of the Kemurikage. They had kidnapped several kids in order to put pressure on Fire Lord Zuko, because he had taken the spot that Azula believed was hers. So she got this twisted idea that she needed to make Zuko into a more ruthless Fire Lord and thought that kidnapping children would be the push he needed. After their attack on the Capital, I’d heard rumours about them being around the Earth Kingdom so I decided to find her and hopefully make some peace. But now I’m beginning to think that those rumours had been spread by the Dai Li to lure me over here so that they could get their revenge,” Izanami supplied.

“I’d heard about the Kemurikage kidnapping children in the Fire Nation, but I’d heard that Fire Lord Zuko had resolved the problem himself. I’d never heard of similar things taking place in the Earth Kingdom. But I also never knew that it was happening because of his own sister,” Raiden noted.

“Despite everything that she’s done, and all of the trouble that she’s caused, Zuko still cares for his sister. He wouldn’t want her to be wanted like that. Besides, she already is wanted enough in the Fire Nation after she ran away from them once they’d found their mother,” Izanami said.

“I’d heard about Lady Ursa returning to the Fire Nation with her new family. I had also saw her leave myself at Hira’a because that is where I live,” Raiden stated.

Izanami’s eyes widened, “Wow, really? We really do live in a small world. We almost could’ve seen each other again then as well because I had been asked to accompany them on their search, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it and face Azula again.”

“Didn’t Lady Ursa leave the Fire Nation on the night that Fire Lord Sozin died? I’ve heard a few rumours about that, but the most popular rumour is that she was actually the one who killed the Fire Lord and was banished because of it,” Raiden stated.

Izanami pursed her lips, “You’re not wrong there. That happened before I became friends with Azula, but she had confided in me what happened that night. Fire Lord Ozai had asked for his brothers birthright to be removed since he no longer had a living bloodline after his son, Lu Ten, died in the siege at Ba Sing Se. That had enraged Fire Lord Sozin, and he declared that Fire Lord Ozai deserved to face the same punishment for his actions by sacrificing his own first-born son, Zuko.”

“That sounds like one messed up family,” Raiden commented.

“Believe me, it is. After she teased Zuko about it, Azula was called out by her mother who ordered her to tell her what was going on. Once Ursa knew what was going on, she came up with a plan with Ozai that would spare Zuko’s life so that he could become Fire Lord. That night, Fire Lord Sozin died after Lady Ursa had created an undetectable poison that would make it seem as though he passed on in his sleep, which was the official story given. Because of her actions, Fire Lord Ozai banished her from the Fire Nation which saw her assume an entirely new identity in Hira’a,” Izanami explained.

“Hira’a had been bursting after all of that happened. Lady Ursa had actually grown up in the town before she married Fire Lord Ozai, so there had been a whole lot of drama going on considering she had been a different person. That was partly why I decided to leave Hira’a as well, to have some time to myself and hopefully find my brother, who I hadn’t seen since the end of the war,” Raiden said.

“I was told that he had joined the New Ozai Society but later changed his mind and played a huge part in unmasking the Kemurikage,” Izanami noted.

Raiden nodded, “That was what helped me find Kei Lo. I’d heard about what he’d gotten up to with the New Ozai Society and I wanted to find out what had gotten into him. But when I saw what he had gone through, I figured that there was no point in being harsh on him.”

“So, you wanted to find your brother to clear the air and have him back in your life?” Izanami clarified, beginning to see the similarities that they shared.

“Yes. We’d had a difficult upbringing, and Kei Lo had never felt like he belonged so he had left to find somewhere he could belong. I hadn’t heard about him until I heard what happened with the kidnappings. When I found out what had happened with his ex-girlfriend, I knew that he’d need me to help him out,” Raiden explained.

“That’s exactly why I wanted to find Azula,” Izanami admitted. “I want to be able to help her because even though she might not want me around, I still want to be there for her.”

It was then that Izanami remembered her conversation with Iroh when she was helping Azula track down the Avatar. They had ironically met up while they were both looking for Zuko but for different reasons, and Iroh had offered his words of wisdom to both Izanami and the Avatars earthbender.

_I know he doesn’t want me around right now, but when he needs me I’ll be there._

That was basically her relationship with Azula right now. She knew that Azula probably wanted nothing more to do with her and would probably attack her on sight, but that didn’t mean that Izanami didn’t want to help her. Whether Azula wanted to admit it or not, she needed Izanami’s help.

But was now really the time to chase after Azula when she clearly didn’t want to be followed and was hardly in a good head space? That was the one thing that was holding Izanami back and making her reconsider searching for Azula, because she wasn’t sure if it was worth the effort.

“Is something the matter?” Raiden asked, noticing how quiet Izanami had gone.

“I’m just thinking. Thinking about things that I probably wouldn’t tell anybody that I knew on a deeper level, yet here I am. Spilling out my deepest secrets and things that I really shouldn’t know,” Izanami replied.

“Then why are you telling me?” Raiden narrowed his eyes.

“Because it’s nice to have someone to listen to you. I’ve never really had anyone who wanted to listen to me and didn’t care enough to judge me,” Izanami answered.

“Well, I’ve seen and done enough not to judge people. As sad as it is, that’s something that people do all the time. But we shouldn’t do it,” Raiden stated.

“You know, Raiden, talking with you has made me completely re-evaluate what I thought I was doing in my life,” Izanami admitted. “Now I’m not really sure what I should be doing.”

“Well, whatever you decide, you can always come with us,” Raiden offered.

“Before I do anything, I’m going to have to decide what I do with my family. Because I want them to be safe,” Izanami said.

“We can help you with that,” Raiden proposed.

“I’d like that,” Izanami smiled.

With everything that had happened in the past few days, Izanami knew that she needed some real time to herself before she went off chasing Azula. If Izanami was going to help Azula, then she needed to know that she could help her and right now, Izanami wasn’t so sure if she could do that. And deep down, Izanami knew that finding Azula was almost going to be impossible because unless Azula wanted to be found, then she’d stay in hiding like she was now.

So really, Izanami had nothing to gain by looking for Azula which would only lead to trouble at this point in time.

~*•°•*~

Miles away, on a small island in the outskirts of the Fire Nation, Princess Azula stared out in the distance of what was the Fire Nation Capital. Since her performance as the Kemurikage, Azula and her sisters had gone into hiding before they decided what they were going to do next. To Azula’s dismay, her plan to turn Zuko into the Fire Lord that she would’ve been had failed and her foolish brother seemed to have made amends for his actions in regards to the kidnappings that she orchestrated.

But to Azula’s surprise, Zuko hadn’t exposed her as the mastermind behind the whole thing. He had lead the nation to believe that it was the work of people from the New Ozai Society who were trying to undermine his rule. That was partially correct, but he hadn’t exposed who was specifically behind the plot, which he knew was Azula. Just like Azula had said he was back in Forgetful Valley, even when her brother was strong, he was weak.

Now Azula was much more stronger and powerful than she was before, with her mind heading on the right track. Everything seemed so much clearer to Azula now compared to how it did in the past. Granted, she still suffered from hallucinations every now and then but at least this time she knew what was real and what wasn’t. A common thread in her hallucinations had been the appearances of her mother and Izanami.

The last time that Azula had seen her estranged friend as when she had visited her in prison during the war. Following her defeat at the hands of her brother and that Water Tribe peasant, Azula had been thrown into that mental institution. To her surprise, there were a few people that had visited her every now and then to see how she was doing. But Izanami had never visited Azula. Sometimes Azula had considered asking about her former friend, but she didn’t want to seem weak. At least weaker than people already thought she was.

“Oh, Izana. It’s a shame that things had to end the way that they did. We could’ve been so powerful together,” Azula murmured.

By infiltrating the Fire Nation Royal Capital, Azula was actually hoping to see Izanami again. But Azula had soon learned that her former friend no longer lived in the capital and now resided at Ember Island. It was no surprise to Azula that Izanami would choose that place to live her life considering what it meant to her. But despite trying her best to track her down, Izanami seemed to have removed herself from the island.

Any thoughts on forcing a reunion between herself and Izanami had been pushed aside as Azula now had to figure out another plan that would push her brother over the brink and put her back in power. Perhaps this plan would also be enough to bring Izanami back at her mercy, so Azula could finally make her regret betraying her like she did. It disgusted Azula that while she was in hiding, the same people who had betrayed her and committed treason were out living their lives as if it never happened.

But deep down, Azula knew that they still feared her. That was something that would never change. She saw the fear in Ty Lee’s eyes when she revealed herself and the same fear in Mai’s eyes when she threatened to kill her precious boyfriend. Fear was always something that Azula would have over anyone, and sooner or later, she was going to use that fear to her advantage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I’m sorry for confusing people with the change in updates but as you can see with this chapter, the events that were added to the last one needed to be there. In case you’ve forgotten entirely, Raiden was the person who Izanami spoke to at Chan’s party in Day at the Beach and he also happens to be Kei Lo’s brother, which was my way of bringing him into the main story. He was always going to be from Hira’a, and he was going to meet Izanami there when she was originally in the Search before I scrapped that storyline.


	40. Incomparable Comparisons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first I thought this chapter would be my last post of the year but then I remembered that the year actually finishes on the day that I update this story, opps. It would be more fitting if this chapter was posted in 2019, because the year is new just like the direction that this story is going in. With that being said, it’s worth mentioning that this chapter takes place three years after the last one did, but everything that’s happened between then will be covered even though it’s not that much.

A lot had changed in Izanami’s life in the time that she escaped the clutches of the Dai Li. The most notable change had been that she now spent majority of her time travelling with Raiden and Kei Lo. She had long since given up on her search for Azula, since Izanami had decided that if she was truly meant to be reunited with her friend then fate would have its way and that there was no point in meddling with it. If there was one thing that Izanami had learned in the past five years of her life, fate was something that you couldn’t control and that you just had to let it take its course.

Just because Izanami was now travelling with Raiden and Kei Lo didn’t mean that she had completely forgotten about her old life in the Fire Nation. She still kept in touch with Mai and Ty Lee as they continued sending each other letters across the world. In recent months Ty Lee still remained with the Kyoshi Warriors and was loving every bit of it while Mai was finding her own path without Zuko. After the mess that had happened with Azula and the Kemurikage, Mai and Zuko had briefly reignited their relationship before breaking up for good over a year ago. Now Mai was in the early stages of a relationship with Ruon-Jian, one of the boys that they had met at Ember Island which was where Mai now spent majority of her time.

Although love wasn’t exactly something that Izanami had in her life, it was definitely something that she had a part of her life. She loved being able to travel and see the world in a way that she had never seen it before. She loved experiencing something new each and every day. But most of all, she loved the company that she had found herself. Even though Izanami wasn’t overly close with Kei Lo, she still cared about him and had grown increasingly closer to Raiden over the past three years. They had a bond that could even rival what Izanami had once had with Azula, which was saying something.

Sometimes Izanami found herself comparing her life now with Raiden and Kei Lo to what her life had been with Azula. The differences were obvious, since Izanami considered herself equals with them and that was something that she had never felt in regards to Azula. Despite them being close for as long as they were and seemingly having an equal partnership, Izanami had always known that her input wasn’t that valuable to Azula. Azula just liked to make her think that she was valuable so that she didn’t abandon her.

Because all three of them were from the Fire Nation, they had decided to explore their roots a lot more after spending some time in the Earth Kingdom. They were currently living at Hing Wa Island, located on the outskirts of the Fire Nation. It was a good place to find ash bananas, so that was something that they always found for themselves. But they had also volunteered to transport the ash bananas to other parts of the Fire Nation since they were a popular tradeable good that everybody seemed to love.

“Where are you heading off to next?” Izanami asked Raiden as he entered their shared apartment.

“I’m sending some ash bananas off to Jing Hui,” Raiden replied. “What about you?”

“I’ve gotta go to Shu Jing. Kei Lo should be heading back soon from Ember Island, right?” Izanami checked.

Raiden nodded, “Yeah. He should be back right after you leave. I just hope that he got there alright without having to deal with that ex of his.”

“You mean Mai? Even if Kei Lo bumps into her again it shouldn’t be a problem. She’s moved on from whatever happened between them and if he hasn’t then that’s his problem,” Izanami said.

“Is that how you’d respond if it were you dealing with the Fire Princess?” Raiden wondered.

“You know that Kei Lo’s situation with Mai is incomparable to my situation with her. That was just an awkward breakup. My situation with Azula is because of betrayal. I might’ve moved on from it and am willing to move forward, but I can’t say the same for her. Azula was always one to hold a grudge,” Izanami answered.

“Fair enough,” Raiden mumbled.

“I hope that Kei Lo was able to get my letter to Gen at Ember Island. I haven’t seen her since Niko’s birthday,” Izanami said.

After deciding to travel with Raiden and Kei Lo, Izanami helped Gen get situated somewhere permeant with that place being Ember Island. It seemed to be the best fit for them, since Gen didn’t feel as much as an outsider there like she would’ve if she’d lived anywhere else in the Fire Nation. So Gen now lived at Izanami’s old place which she had given to her and Niko since it was big enough for the two of them. Because Izanami was constantly on the move, she only went to see her nephew once every few months. Each time she did see him, he was only getting bigger and bigger as she helped him with his firebending.

At this point in time, Niko had recently turned eight, making him eleven years younger than Izanami. It was almost strange having a nephew at this age and to have him almost half of her age. But Izanami was glad to have Niko in her life, because even though her brother was long gone, it was still like she had a part of her brother left. Especially since Niko was growing more and more to look like Kazu.

“I’m sure that Kei Lo got in there alright. He’d know what to do with the letter you gave him. Now you should get some rest for your trip. I’m sure that Kei Lo will return with a letter from Gen for you to read when you get back,” Raiden said..

Izanami nodded, “I guess you’re right. I’m just looking forward to hearing from her again. These once a month letters just aren’t doing it for me.”

“Maybe we should make Ember Island our permanent residence,” Raiden suggested.

“Yeah, maybe.”

Despite having only known Raiden and Kei Lo for three years, they had become an integral part of Izanami’s life and she couldn’t imagine herself getting by without them. Wherever they went, she went with them too. Their friendship wasn’t like hers with Azula, because they equally depended on each other and nobody had more power over the other. It was a refreshing kind of friendship, one that Izanami hadn’t really had before.

Things certainly hadn’t turned out how Izanami would’ve thought they would, but she was glad to have had this turn of events in her life. She was perfectly content with the way things were now, and she hadn’t felt like that in a long time.

~*•°•*~

A few days later, Izanami found herself venturing through the island of Shu Jing with her delivery of ash bananas. It was a small town located on the eastern side of the Fire Nation and it was most notable for being the place where Master Piando, the greatest swordsman in history lived. Other than that, it was a pretty remote town with beautiful scenery, something that Izanami immediately took notice of as she wondered around.

As Izanami made her way through the town to give off her delivery, it was hard not to think that a few years ago, she never would’ve thought that her life would end up this way. Five years ago, Izanami had was perfectly content with her life in the Fire Nation Capital with her family. Sure, it was her family minus her brother, but life there was still good. She’d had Azula as her friend and saw her at least once a week. They often spent time planning future endeavours together and it always amazed Izanami what the younger girl could come up with.

For someone who was a year younger than Izanami, Azula had always surpassed her in everything she did. Azula had easily mastered almost every form of firebending there was by the time that Izanami met her again when she was eleven. Then she became an official master at thirteen before being able to create her blue fire and generate lightning not long after. It was clear that happiness was never something that Azula desired since she only seemed to plan for her success, not her happiness.

Now all Izanami wanted in her life was happiness. She didn’t want to do anything for the betterment of anyone but herself, and she had been feeling so much better for doing that. Finally, Izanami reached the trading point where she was required to deliver the ash bananas from Hing Wa island. They definitely tasted good, so Izanami could see why they were so popular amongst the Fire nation.

“Thank you for delivering these ash bananas. Here is the money for your troubles,” the trader, said as he handed Izanami the money.

“Thank you,” Izanami smiled. “But is it appropriate for me to ask why the delivery amount has increased? You asked for more than your months usual allowance.”

“It’s been getting a bit difficult around here, young lady. We’ve been having food going missing and homes being broken into for months now. The ash bananas are always the ones that get stolen, so we run out of enough to sell,” the trader explained.

Izanami nodded in understanding, “Oh, I didn’t know that. I hope that things get better.”

“You and me both, girl. You and me both,” the trader remarked.

That feeling you get when something is watching you suddenly overwhelmed Izanami, but when she turned around to see if anyone or anything was in that direction, there wasn’t.

“Something the matter?” the trader asked gruffly.

“Yeah, did you see anything back there?” Izanami pointed in the direction of where she thought she had seen something.

The trader shook his head, “Nope. And my eyes were there so I saw nothing.”

“Must be my imagination,” Izanami muttered.

Having completed her delivery, Izanami took some time to wonder around the town before she embarked on her journey back to Hing Wa island. As she did so, Izanami could see what the trader meant by homes being broken into as it looked like there were numerous buildings under repairs. It didn’t seem to be a struggle for them to get by, since they seemed to have plenty of equipment to repair their homes.

One thing that Izanami had realised during the time that she lived at Fire Fountain City was just how little money Fire Lord Ozai seemed to spend on his people to better their lives. As Izanami travelled with Azula during the war, it soon became apparent that all of that money the Fire Nation supposedly had went to improving their industrial rates so that they could keep fighting against the other nations. That certainly wasn’t how things were now, because Zuko had made it his mission to give back to his people so that they could survive after being in a war-torn country for so long.

To say that Izanami was surprised by how Zuko had handled his reign so far was an understatement. He certainly hadn’t had an easy road to begin with since people were constantly trying to assassinate him. But almost five years after the end of the war, Zuko’s reign was starting to establish some consistency. He’d already done more than enough for the rest of the world in his part of repairing the bridges that had been damaged by the war. The Fire Nation itself was a much better country as struggling towns like Jang Hui were now flourishing under his rule.

You could almost hardly believe that Zuko was the same son of Fire Lord Ozai, because he was almost incomparable to his father. Even though Azula had always made it clear that her goal was to one day be Fire Lord, she had to admit that Zuko was doing a far better job than what Azula could’ve done. Dare she think it, Izanami could only shudder at the possibility of a world where Azula had succeeded on the day of Sozin’s Comet and became Fire Lord. But despite that, Izanami still felt bad for the fate that the other girl had suffered.

Knowing that she needed to start heading back now before she wasted any time, Izanami left the town of Shu Jing and began making her trip back to Hing Wa island. Hopefully when she returned Kei Lo would have successfully given her letter to Gen and maybe even gotten one in return. Since she had been away from them for so long, Izanami was beginning to think that maybe she should just move back to Ember Island. After all, she’d seen enough of the world in the past three years and needed to be there for her nephew and his mother.

As she walked through the forest and away from Shu Jing, Izanami couldn’t help but have that same feeling that she got in the village when she thought something or _someone_ was watching her. It gave her a sense of uneasiness, which made Izanami dread having to finish the rest of her trip through the forest. Out of the corner of her eye, Izanami could’ve sworn that she saw something dart past her. Immediately getting into a firebending move, Izanami prepared herself for anything that she might have to face.

“Who’s there? Show yourself!” Izanami demanded.

That wasn’t what happened, but Izanami heard the sound of rustling coming from that direction. Cautiously, Izanami approached the bushes that were hiding whatever or whoever from her, and pushed them apart to see what was there, only to find a turtleduck hiding in its shell. Izanami let out a sigh of relief.

“Tsk, tsk, Izanami. Didn’t I teach you to never lower your guard and slip into a false sense of security?”

All Izanami could do was stand there in shock as she heard that familiar voice. Despite not having heard that voice in four years, Izanami would recognise that voice anywhere. But Izanami secretly hoped that it didn’t belong to who she knew it belonged to.

“Oh, come now, Izanami. You know I can _smell_ your fear. That wasn’t the reaction that I was expecting from you.”

Slowly, Izanami turned around and despite knowing who was most likely behind her, she still couldn’t believe who it was. Standing there with a black hood over her head with a sadistic smile on her face was none other than _Azula_.

“Hello, Izanami. Fancy seeing you again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it, Azula is back in the story. I told you guys a few chapters ago that it would be a long time (at least in their timeline) before Azula and Izanami saw each other again, and now they’re reunited. Fun fact: Hing Wa island, Jang Hui and Shu Jing are actually places in the Avatar World. Hing Wa island was mentioned in the Puppetmaster, Jang Hui was the town that the Gaang helped in the Painted Lady and Shu Jing was the town where Master Piando lived. Consider this my Christmas present to you guys, so Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukah or whatever you celebrate.


	41. Reunited (And it Doesn't Feel Good)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to what will be my last update for 2018. This has been a great year for me with my stories because I’ve managed to post ten stories on fanfiction and I’m still in the process of five of them. It’s great to see that I can actually start a story and finish it, which is something that I’ve never been able to do until now. There’s less than ten chapters of this story left now, and I hope that you guys will be sticking with it until the end.

For the past three years, Izanami had wondered what had become of Azula. She had wondered if her former best friend was alright, if she was even sane to begin with. Izanami had heard stories about Azula’s actions in the Kemurikage, and what she had been willing to do to make her brother into the Fire Lord that she wanted to be scared her. In that time, Izanami hadn’t allowed her newfound fear of Azula to control her. But with Azula standing in front of her the way she was, all Izanami felt towards her was fear.

“A-Azula,” Izanami spluttered in shock.

“Good to see you recognise me,” she drawled.

“It’s been a while…” Izanami trailed off, not sure what to say.

“It sure has. We’ve both been busy,” Azula stated.

“I’ve heard what you’ve been up to,” Izanami said.

Azula pursed her lips, “That was then, Izanami. This is now. Things have certainly changed.”

“Have you changed?” Izanami asked carefully.

“You’d like to think I have,” Azula cackled.

Deep down, Izanami knew that her fear from Azula came from her insanity. When Azula was as sane as she could’ve been, Izanami hadn’t feared her. Sure, she had been concerned about Azula every now and then but she was never afraid of her. Not like how she was now. But despite her fear, Izanami still wanted Azula to be better, and she knew that she could help her there.

“Let me help you,” Izanami offered.

Azula scoffed, “I’m Princess Azula. I don’t need _anybody’s_ help. Especially yours. Haven’t you forgotten that you _betrayed_ me!”

Izanami cringed, “I did what was right.”

“By betraying me! Just like Mai and Ty Lee did,” Azula seethed, and Izanami could see that evil twitch in her eyes that was enough to make her take a few steps back out of caution.

“We all wish that things could’ve turned out differently that day, Azula. But you had been using us for far too long. We were merely pawns to you,” Izanami stated.

“You really think I saw you as a pawn? Believe it or not, Izanami, I actually considered you a friend. My only friend. And you so blindly followed after two people who barely considered you as such!” Azula glared at her.

“Because of that, I became far more closer to Mai and Ty Lee than I ever was to you, Azula. You never made me feel like a real friend. I’ve learned more from Mai and Ty Lee in the past three years than I ever did with you. At the time I thought you were genuine, but now I can see that you only kept me around just for the sake of keeping me around,” Izanami argued.

“Why would I have wanted a peasant commoner like you if I didn’t want you around? Sure, your father was an Admiral but that was hardly any use to me! I knew more than enough admirals,” Azula growled.

“You say I was a friend to you yet you rarely ever treated me like an equal. Real friends don’t treat other friends like they’re beneath them, regardless of where they stand in society,” Izanami insisted.

“Real friends don’t betray other friends, so I guess you weren’t ever a friend either,” Azula snapped.

Izanami sighed, “Azula, I didn’t want things to end up this way.”

“Well they did. While I was thrown into a mental institution and treated like an animal, you were unjustly given your freedom when you should’ve been wasting alongside me. Face it, Izanami, you were there by my side during the war. You committed the same acts that I did. Yet I am the one branded as a criminal while you undeservedly walk free,” Azula said.

“I earned my freedom by making the right choice. You got your fate handed to you by making the decisions that you did and failing to see the error in your ways,” Izanami said.

“And I would do it all over again just to see you behind bars while I was still out there doing what you didn’t have the guts to do. Your parents were right – you _are_ a disappointment,” Azula snarled.

This entire conversation with Azula was almost bizarre. Izanami couldn’t deny that she was slightly hurt by Azula’s words since she knew that Izanami was sensitive about her parents. But using someone’s insecurities against them was just the kind of thing that Azula did, so Izanami really wasn’t surprise that Azula would go there.

But despite that, Izanami still felt that Azula’s hatred for her was somewhat justified. After all, Izanami _did_ betray her and she had known Azula long enough to know how she felt towards betrayal. The fact that Azula was referring to her with her full name instead of the shortened Izana was enough for Izanami to know just how hurt Azula was, because Azula hardly ever referred to her with her full name before.

“Azula, I’m really sorry how things turned out between us. If you let me help you, we can make things right,” Izanami suggested.

“You don’t want to help me. You’ll just haul me back to the Fire Nation so that I can be locked up again,” Azula seethed.

“I won’t send you away, Azula. I just want to help you get better again,” Izanami insisted.

“Don’t you get it, Izanami? I was never ‘better’ to begin with. You can’t help me. You don’t want to help me – you just want to see me suffer like everyone else! Well, lucky for you I’ve already suffered enough!” Azula rambled.

“I don’t want to see you suffer. I want to see you get better,” Izanami admitted.

“If you keep saying that maybe you’ll believe it,” Azula remarked. “Now, as fun as this reunion was and as fun as it was to see you crumble, I’m not going to waste anymore of my time on you, Izanami. Good riddance.”

It was strange how Azula didn’t appear to be as insane now like Izanami had heard she was like. Izanami wasn’t oblivious to the fact that Azula’s mind still wasn’t quite right given how she spoke to her and the way she carried herself, but she seemed to be doing better now than how she was doing in the past. That was enough to make Izanami believe that contrary to what Azula thought, she could be saved.

As Izanami watched Azula’s figure fade into the distance, she knew that it was now or never. Either she tired making a difference with Azula now or never got the chance to do it again. This was the opportunity that Izanami had been waiting for. She had waited for the universe to give her a sign if she was meant to see Azula again and it had, so Izanami wasn’t going to waste this.

“Azula, don’t go,” Izanami called out to her.

There were still a few things that Izanami was unsure of, like why Azula was out in _this_ place out of all the places in the Fire Nation. She wasn’t even sure if it was right of her to meddle with Azula’s life, not knowing what Azula was involved with. But Izanami was willing to take the chance. She was just hoping that Azula would be willing to give her another chance.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like Azula was willing to give her an open mind because any attempts at speaking with Azula were made in vain. The way that Azula stumbled over her own feet was enough indication for Izanami to know that she certainly wasn’t alright everywhere else either. She only got no response from the former princess, who now seemed focused on ignoring her. But Izanami wasn’t going to take this lying down.

“Azula, please listen to me,” Izanami pleaded. “I know that you have every right to hate me, but please don’t let this be the end of it for us. If it means anything to you, I did consider you a friend then. But now that I’ve had time to grow and see a new side of things, I realise that our friendship wasn’t entirely genuine. It was our parents who introduced us and changed our fates so that they would intertwine. It might not mean anything to you, but if we had met under any circumstances I think that we would’ve had a friendship to last through anything.”

What Izanami had said was what she had realised over the past three years. It was her parents who had introduced her to Azula at Ember Island, and Izanami hadn’t liked the way that the princess had treated her brother, but she had just went with it because she was the princess. Looking back, that was mainly why Izanami had never really shared her true feelings with Azula because she was the Princess of the Fire Nation and could’ve had her executed if she wanted to.

Yet again, Izanami was ignored by Azula despite her persistent attempts at trying to get any sort of response from the girl. It was almost weird how Azula had gone from doing the most of the talking to suddenly going mute. If there was one thing that Izanami hated, it was being ignored and right now, she hated that Azula was ignoring her.

“You’re seriously just going to ignore me? After everything we went through you’re not even giving me the chance to talk to you? You owe me more than that, Azula,” Izanami said.

Azula snapped her head around, “I owe you _nothing_ after how you betrayed me. If there is either of us that owes the other something, it is you, Izanami. You owe me for what I have had to go through because of your betrayal. I never would’ve thought that you, of all people, would have a sense of entitlement like that but people have been surprising me lately.”

Izanami’s eyes widened as she remembered the fact that she had found Azula _alone_. As in without the members of her Kemurikage gang. What had happened to them? Was Azula actually here on her own?

“What… what happened to your gang?” Izanami asked.

“That’s none of your concern,” Azula growled. “I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of anything, Izanami. You betrayed me. Just like everyone else always does.”

 _Just like everyone else always does._ That last sentence really made Izanami think, and she had a feeling that Azula wasn’t just referring to her betrayal alongside Mai and Ty Lee. She had a feeling that it was referring to something else entirely.

“They betrayed you, didn’t they?” Izanami stated.

Azula glared at her, “Like I’m going to tell you anything. Now do yourself a favour and stop bothering yourself with me, Izanami. It’s better for both of us if we forget the other existed.”

“But I can’t forget that you exist, Azula,” Izanami argued as she blocked Azula’s path. The dirty look that Azula gave her upon that action didn’t go unnoticed by her. “I don’t want to forget that you exist. As much as I didn’t like what we had to go through, it helped make me into who I am. _You_ helped make me into who I am.”

“Just stop trying for Agni’s sake, Izanami! Forget about me. Forget about everything and just _leave me alone_ ,” Azula seethed.

“You say that like it’s something that I can just do when I _can’t_! How do you expect me to forget about years of friendship, whether it was real or not? Especially when that friendship helped shape me into the person that I am,” Izanami insisted.

“ _Listen here_ , Izanami!” Azula hissed with a fierce glare unlike any glare that Izanami had seen before that sent shivers down her spine. “I’m only going to say this _one more time_ so listen carefully. _Stay away_ from me. I want _nothing_ more to do with you. I don’t need anymore people like _you_ in my life. I am just _fine_ on my own!”

“But you’re not,” Izanami’s lip trembled. “Look at you, Az. If this was three years ago you’d be disgusted at yourself for letting yourself slip this far. You wouldn’t have even allowed that to happen.”

“Well, things change! And so do people!” Azula roared. “You clearly haven’t changed at all since you are still naïve enough to think that there is any good in me when I have clearly shown that there isn’t. Just stop being a delusional wrench.”

“You call it delusional, I call it hopeful,” Izanami argued.

“It’s delusional!” Azula yelled.

To prove her point, Azula grabbed hold of Izanami’s hand and twisted it so hard and suddenly that Izanami barely had time to register what was happening. Azula then tossed her backwards and tied her to the nearest tree. She thrusted her arms down, creating a ring of blue fire around Izanami that left her trapped in the blaze.

“This is your final warning, Izanami. _Stay away_ from me. Or I _will_ resort to much more harsher methods to get my wish. And you of all people should know just what I’m capable of and I won’t hesitate to do what I have done to other people to you,” Azula threatened.

In an instant, Azula was gone, leaving Izanami trapped by the blue fire. Izanami’s first instinct had been to panic, because Azula’s blue fire had always been harder for Izanami to tame. But then she remembered that Azula’s firebending usually cooled down after a few moments, which it did. So Izanami moved up and down to hopefully create enough friction against the tree to break the rope, which it did after a few tries.

By the time that Izanami had freed herself, Azula was long gone. There was no sign of the firebender in sight and Izanami knew that Azula wanted it to stay that way. But Izanami had already made the decision upon seeing Azula again that this time, she wasn’t going to give up on her. She was going to keep trying to at least save Azula from herself before she went down an even more dangerous path.

But Izanami wasn’t stupid, and she knew that for her to do this right, she was going to need some help. And she knew just who would be willing to come down here and help her without a second thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Azula and Izanami have reunited but it wasn’t exactly a pleasant reunion, which it was never going to be. Their dialogue might be confusing to some considering that Azula was basically a fit of insanity throughout the entire duration of the Search, but just remember that when she came back in Smoke and Shadow, her mind seemed a lot more clearer (or as clear as it could get) than it had in the past. So she’s still kind of insane, but just not as insane to the degree that she was in the Search. I’ll be seeing you guys in 2019 with the rest of this story that will surely be completed in a month or two.


	42. Fall on Deaf Ears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My writers block kind of got in the way of this chapter because for the most part I knew where the story was going when I planned it, but I kind of changed things again with the last chapter so I wasn’t sure how to write this chapter. While I was writing it I actually realised that I had skipped over a chapter in my plans, but it works out fine because I’m going to need that spare chapter after how these last two chapters have deviated from what I had planned.

Walking away from Izanami, Azula felt satisfied that she had gotten her point across. Her former friend had been pretty persistent in trying to win her over, but Azula wasn’t going to fall into her trap again. She’d certainly learned from her previous mistakes of trusting Izanami implicitly. Look where trust had gotten her for Agni’s sake!

Dealing with Izanami was certainly _not_ what Azula had wanted to do. There were still plenty of unresolved feelings, mainly consisting of bitterness and hatred, that she felt towards her old friend. Izanami’s betrayal had hurt Azula more than anything, simply because she hadn’t seen it coming. She would’ve expected that kind of behaviour from Mai and Ty Lee, but certainly not Izanami. At the time, Azula never could’ve seen Izanami’s loyalty wavering, but after spending some time looking back on her mistakes, Azula could see the warning signs that Izanami’s loyalties were wavering.

When it came to making friends, Azula always chose them carefully. She chose Mai and Ty Lee for their skills, and decided to keep Izanami close as well because of her apparent loyalty. It was always good to have skilful people in your corner, especially when they believed in you and said they trusted you. But trust had never been enough for Azula, so she had tried desperately to make Mai and Ty Lee fear her to the point of being afraid to do otherwise. As for Izanami, Azula knew that she wouldn’t be able to push her too far, but still tried manipulating her to her advantage.

Since leaving the Fire Nation Capital, Azula had kept tabs on her former friends in case she decided to seek her long awaited vengeance. It had been fairly easy to keep up to date with Mai and Ty Lee, since Ty Lee had gone off with those lousy warriors while Mai was too infatuated with Zuko to do anything else. But then Mai and Zuko had broken up, and Mai had made herself scarce.

Keeping up with Izanami had been the hardest, since it seemed as though the other girl had chosen to live a reclusive life unlike her former acquaintances. The last that Azula had heard when she was able to keep tabs on Izanami was that she had chosen to reside in Ember Island before relocating herself elsewhere. It had just been by pure fate that Azula would stumble across Izanami like this, since at this point she didn’t have any plans of tracking down her former friends.

“Maybe now is my chance to give her what she deserves,” Azula mused to herself.

 _“You wouldn’t do that, would you, Zula?”_ a familiar nagging-like voice appeared out of nowhere.

Azula groaned, “Ugh, Izanami, must you be so persistent?”

_“Some would say the same about you, Princess Azula. You were always persistent when it came to achieving your goals. You never settled for anything but the best.”_

“That’s because I _was_ the best! Unlike you, you were just the princesses sidekick!” Azula hissed.

_“Using peoples insecurities against them, classic Azula.”_

“I know what to use against you, Izanami! I’ve tried my best to keep up with you over the past three years but you’ve proved to be quite slippery. But that didn’t stop me from finding your secret. Or should I say, your _brothers_ secret. I knew that the way you described him was too good to be true,” Azula rambled.

_“Come now, Azula. You would’ve had to have snooped extra thoroughly to find out who I had been maintaining contact with. You always said what you wanted people to believe.”_

“You’d really underestimate me like that, Izanami? Ha, well I’ll show you! You of all people should know how powerful I can be. Or would you prefer me to demonstrate that on your little family?” Azula smirked.

_“You wouldn’t do that, Azula. Because if you wanted to you would’ve done so already. It’s been three years.”_

“Oh yeah, well maybe I’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity! Maybe I’ve chosen to keep myself hidden from the public eye, knowing that there are people out there who would just love to see me thrown in prison! You’re probably one of those people,” Azula seethed.

_“I’m not. Because believe it or not Azula, I still care about you. I always will.”_

“I’ve had enough of your lies!” Azula screeched. “You never know when to take a hint, do you, _Izanami_?”

Growing tired of Izanami’s irritating presence, Azula turned her head around, ready to give Izanami a real piece of her mind. Only when she turned around, there was nothing there. Just like there always was.

~*•°•*~

A week had passed and Azula was yet to run into Izanami again. That was probably for the best, since Azula wasn’t sure how she’d handle another run-in with her former friend. Azula preferred living her life like this, and she didn’t need Izanami getting in the way and ruining everything.

It was ironic how things turned out. Years ago, Azula would’ve been caught dead living like a peasant. But now it was what she had to do to survive. She couldn’t risk going out in public, since anyone could recognise her and her life would be over all over again. But she had grown to adapt to her new environment, since that was what she had to do. Azula knew that Zuko was still looking for her, and it was difficult for her to decide what his reasons for doing so were. Like everyone else, he probably just wanted to see her suffer.

Well, you don’t always get what you want. Azula of all people knew that.

For majority of the last three years, Azula had been living off of the Fire Nation land. Most of that living had been done by herself, like she was now. Azula had read the reports that although her Fire Warriors were yet to launch another attack on the Fire Nation, the city was still on high alert. There was no need for them to even bother like that, since if Azula was going to launch another attack, it would be on her own, now that her group of warriors had abandoned her.

Azula just couldn’t catch a break, could she? First her original squad had betrayed her and now the Fire Warriors followed in their footsteps. Admittedly, Azula had preferred dealing with her original squad since it was a lot easier to control them whereas it had been difficult handling the Fire Warriors and their uncontrollable personalities.

That was probably what Azula had been asking for by bringing a group of mentally unstable girls together. In her defence, she had been desperate for recruits at the time and breaking those girls out of the mental institution was enough to get them to do her bidding. She wondered what they were doing now…

No. That wasn’t what Azula needed to waste her time on doing. She had better things to focus on instead of people who had betrayed her.

With a sigh, Azula leaned against the wall of the cave that she now resided in. She had set herself a nice camp in a small cave near a secluded lake. It was in a remote part of the forest, which meant that people would be less likely to find her there. At leas that’s what she’d hoped for.

But Azula had certainly come to realise that you don’t always get what you hope for. And that was reiterated when she heard the sound of someone approaching. Her instincts kicking in, Azula got into action and prepared herself to fight whoever was there.

“Who’s there? I demand that you show your pathetic self!” Azula demanded.

Eventually, a small figure emerged from the bushes. Part of Azula had been expecting it to be Izanami coming to harass her yet again, only it wasn’t. It was a guy, staring at her with fearful eyes. But Azula immediately recognised those eyes. She prided herself on remembering her enemies, and at one point this boy had been her enemy.

“Oh, Mai. It seems your boyfriend has come to play with me. I’m sure that betrayal must hurt,” Azula smirked.

“I d-didn’t c-come t-to pl-paly,” Kei Lo stammered.

“Then why are you here?” Azula drawled.

“B-because sh-she a-asked me to,” Kei Lo stuttered.

Azula narrowed her eyes, “Who’s this _she_ you speak of? You have one second to answer before I burn you on the spot. Too late!”

Before Kei Lo even had a chance to respond, let alone react, Azula blasted fire at him. Luckily his instincts kicked into gear and Kei Lo managed to get out of the way, but not enough to save himself entirely. His arm had been burned and he was now crouched down on the ground in pain.

“Little Zuzu isn’t here to help you now,” Azula growled.

“Azula, stop!”

Eyes widening, Azula turned to her left to see Izanami standing there with them. Beside her was another guy, one who Azula could’ve sworn that she’d seen before but couldn’t quite recognise. Her mind wasn’t exactly in tip-top shape these days to remember old faces like that.

“So you must be the _she_ who sent him here,” Azula scoffed. “He certainly didn’t do a good job at doing whatever you wanted him to do. What a pathetic creature you’ve found yourself, Izanami.”

“Kei Lo is _not_ pathetic,” Izanami said.

Azula cackled, “He certainly looks it.”

Silence fell over them as Raiden rushed to help his brother, keeping a cautious glance at the Fire Nation Princess in case she acted against him. He was already beginning to regret joining Izanami for this, especially since it had ended up in his brother getting hurt.

“So, where’s everyone else? I’m assuming that Ty Lee is ready to chi-block me and that Mai is ready to launch another knife in my back. And let me guess, Zuzu is on standby too along with that little gang of his and an entire army of firebenders,” Azula drawled.

“Nobody else is here but me,” Izanami stated.

“Then why would you bring those two goons with you?” Azula wondered before chuckling to herself. “Who am I kidding, it’s obvious!”

“Obviously what?” Izanami asked.

“Why you’re here with this runt, Mai’s _boyfriend_. You’ve _stolen_ him from her! I guess that makes you no better than me, Izanami. Admittedly, I didn’t think you had it in you to do something like that,” Azula proclaimed.

“I haven’t _stolen_ Kei Lo from Mai. They’re not even together anymore! And besides, Kei Lo is _not_ my boyfriend,” Izanami cried.

“Hm, I guess you would be becoming even more pathetic by settling for someone like him anyways. Though, he would be a step up from that fool Natsumi,” Azula’s gaze landed on Raiden again and her crooked face morphed into a smirk. “So _he_ must be your man now. Not that bad of a choice, actually. But unfortunately, your relationship is about to come to an abrupt end.”

“He’s not my ‘man’ either!” Izanami declared as she stood between them, prepared to face off against Azula if necessary, but hoping that she wouldn’t have to. “I don’t even need a man, Azula.”

“Well, you’re certainly going to need someone to help you now,” Azula threatened.

Izanami sighed, “Please, Azula. We don’t have to do this. Just let us help you. I want to help you.”

“I find that hard to believe, Izanami,” Azula spat.

Upon getting a closer look at Azula, Izanami noticed how _different_ she looked compared to their last run-in. Back then, Azula had seemed somewhat calmer and in control, only now it was like the opposite of that. Her mind had to be messing with her again, and knowing that was enough to give Izanami the confidence that she needed for this.

“Just hear me out, Azula. Let me in. Trust me. I can help you,” Izanami pleaded.

“I _don’t_ need your help!” Azula roared so loudly that a small burst of fire escaped from her mouth.

“Please, Azula,” Izanami tried again.

“N-no! Stay away from me!” Azula demanded as she backed away slowly, nearing the edge of the river that went down a slope.

“I don’t understand why it has to be like this, Azula. Remember that time when we were hunting the Avatar and you said that my father didn’t love me and that they loved my brother more than me? I forgave you for that. Why can’t you forgive me for what I did?” Izanami said.

“Because it’s completely different! I just said some harsh words which was the harsh truth. You know what they say about the truth hurting,” Azula smirked.

“But you had still betrayed our friendship by saying that, knowing that it would hurt me. I knew that my betrayal would hurt you, but I did it anyways. Those situations really aren’t that different,” Izanami reasoned.

“Just shut up!” Azula shrieked. “I’m sick of having to put up with you even when you’re not around! And I thought _mother_ was worse! I’d rather put up with her nagging over yours!”

Izanami’s face softened, knowing that Azula had to be referring to her hallucinations, “I won’t have to nag me if you just let me help you.”

“You really don’t know when to quit, do you, Izanami?” Azula growled.

Having had enough of Izanami’s nagging, Azula bended an arc of fire towards her, which Izanami was able to block using her firebending. Caught of guard by Izanami defusing her attack, Azula stumbled backwards some more, failing to realise that she was standing near the edge of the river. Another step backwards was enough for Azula to go in that same direction as well, falling over the edge.

“Azula!” Izanami cried.

Expecting to see Azula come back up on her fire jets, Izanami rushed to the edge, only to be shocked as she saw Azula’s crumpled form lying on the rocks. She didn’t seem to be moving, and even though Izanami knew that it wasn’t the case, she couldn’t help but feel like it was her fault. Despite the fact that Azula had just tried to attack her, Izanami wasn’t going to just leave her there. She’d come here to help Azula and she was going to see this through to the end, whatever the result of it would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I mentioned at the start, this plotline has already gone on for more than I had planned for it. In my second outline, Izanami was supposed to have this confrontation with Azula in the previous chapter, but it’s all good since I skipped over a chapter in my revamped version of the plotline. As always, feel free to leave me your thoughts and theories since I love reading those and the more reviews I get, the more chapters you guys get.


	43. No Matter What

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, writers block again. It’s really annoying because I know exactly how the story is going to end and what I need to get done but when it comes to writing it, I’m at a loss. There’s now less than a weeks’ worth of chapters left for this story. We’re getting down to the nitty gritty of this story now and things are only going to keep heating up from now on (pun not intended).

Watching Azula fall off the edge had been a major kick in the gut for Izanami. She felt like it had been her fault because she had quite literally pushed Azula over the edge. Izanami immediately rushed down to see if Azula was okay, and her heart almost came out of her mouth when she saw Azula’s sprawled out form. This wasn’t the Azula that she knew. Granted, Izanami wasn’t sure if she’d ever known Azula but this wasn’t the Azula that she liked to think she knew.

“What are you doing?” Raiden asked as Izanami struggled to pull Azula’s body back up.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Izanami snapped. “I’m helping her.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? She said it herself that she doesn’t want to be helped. She’s dangerous, Izanami. Do you really think it’s wise to continuously get involved with her mess?” Raiden worried.

“Listen, Raiden. I know that you have no right to feel sympathy for Azula and I don’t blame you after what she just did to Kei Lo. But Azula was always like a sister to me, even though she might not be now. You’d do the same thing for Kei Lo. You _have_ done the same thing for Kei Lo,” Izanami argued, referring to the fact that he had still looked out for his brother after he had gotten involved with the New Ozai Society.

Raiden sighed, “Alright. But if she becomes too hard to handle, she’s in your hands.”

Part of Raiden was already regretting coming out here to help Izanami with whatever mess she had gotten herself into. One minute Raiden was waiting for her return at Hing Wa Island and the next he was on a boat to Shu Jing after Izanami had sent him an urgent letter asking for his help. The last thing that Raiden had expected was to come across the former Fire Nation Princess who was certainly looking a little worse for wear these days. But Raiden had already said that he’d help Izanami, and he wasn’t about to back out just yet.

His help was definitely appreciated on Izanami’s end, since she knew that she wouldn’t be able to take on Azula without some help. Izanami was already feeling guilty about bringing them along because it had ended up with Kei Lo getting hurt. But she really shouldn’t have expected anything less from Azula.

If she was being completely honest, Izanami had been surprised that Azula didn’t just murder her on the spot or do something else along those lines. The Azula that she had just faced off against was certainly a fair cry from the Azula she once was and the same girl that Izanami had once considered her friend. Azula hadn’t even been able to handle Izanami defending herself, which was clearly enough for Izanami to realise that Azula had truly gone as far as she could go. The old Azula wouldn’t have let something as small as that get the better of her. The old Azula wouldn’t have let anything get the better of her at all.

“What are we going to do with her?” Raiden asked.

“We’re going to make sure that she’s situated well enough so that when she regains consciousness, she can’t kill us on the spot,” Izanami replied.

“That would be nice,” Kei Lo murmured.

Izanami cringed as she saw the burn on his arm, “I’m sorry about that. I wish that I had been the one to find her first.”

“You and me both,” Kei Lo muttered.

Despite never really being hurt by Azula’s fire before, Izanami knew that it was dangerous and something that wasn’t to be underestimated. She’d seen the damage that Azula’s firebending had done before and knew how much it hurt. It was just unfortunate that Kei Lo had ended up at the other end of it.

If these new encounters with Azula were anything to go by, it was clear that getting back into a stable dynamic with her old friend wasn’t going to be easy. But Izanami had begun this quest knowing that it wouldn’t be easy, and she wasn’t about to give up on Azula just yet.

~*•°•*~

Izanami knew when Azula woke up next because she woke up screaming when she did. And Azula wasn’t just screaming like any normal person would, she was screaming out fire. This was going to be Izanami’s first real attempt at trying to reason with Azula, and she was hoping that this would be achieved without any bloodshed.

“Azula, it’s me, Izanami. You’re okay,” Izanami tried reassuring her, but with little success.

All Izanami got in response was a spit of fire in her direction, which she narrowly avoided. Upon glaring down at Azula, Izanami could see that the other girl was seeing her clearly and knew that the spit had come out of spite.

“Please let me help you, Azula. I want you to get better,” Izanami pleaded.

It seemed as though Azula was determined to ignore Izanami based on the way she was reacting to her. This was also not the kind of behaviour that Izanami would’ve expected from Azula. She would’ve expected her to be raging even more than she already was.

But Izanami didn’t care. She’d let Azula ignore her for as long as she wanted to as long as she was in her care. At least this way Izanami knew that Azula was okay, or as okay as she could be given her current condition.

“Izanami, why don’t we leave Kei Lo with Azula so that we can go and talk elsewhere?” Raiden suggested.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Izanami wondered as she glanced between Kei Lo and Azula.

“Yeah, are you?” Kei Lo added nervously, terrified at the thought of being left alone with the crazy princess.

“Yes. We’ll just be out of earshot but close enough to come back if anything happens,” Raiden stated.

Izanami sighed, “Let’s go.”

Once Izanami and Raiden left the cave, Kei Lo gave Azula an awkward wave. She was still restrained to where she had woken up, but Kei Lo knew just how powerful the former princess could be. He’d be lying if he said that she hadn’t haunted his dreams a few times after the Kemurikage incident. He still shuddered at the words that Azula said to him as she yanked him by his collar all those years ago.

_Please tell me this isn’t your boyfriend, Mai! Zuzu wasn’t that great of a catch, but, dear, you’re really slumming it!_

At the time Kei Lo had been terrified out of his mind, but he knew that if he was going to have to get acquainted with the girl who once threatened to kill him, he was going to have to let go of his fear. And a good way to start that was by at least trying to start a conversation with her.

“So, uh, you’re a princess?” Kei Lo stammered awkwardly. “I uh, wouldn’t know that much about er, royalty, b-but you’d fit the uh, bill for that title.”

Azula scoffed, “Of course I would, you imbecile! I’m the greatest firebender there ever was! Not even my father managed to create blue firebending, but I did!”

“If you’re that powerful of a firebender, why don’t you just break yourself out of here?” Kei Lo wondered.

“Oh, so you _want_ me gone, huh?” Azula smirked. “I’ve scared you that much, haven’t I?”

“W-well, kind of…” Kei Lo admitted sheepishly.

“Well, good then! At least I haven’t lost my touch somewhere,” Azula muttered that last sentence.

“I don’t see how anyone could _not_ be afraid of you. Even your old friend is afraid of you now,” Kei Lo said.

“Of course _she_ would be. She of all people knows what I’m capable of after knowing me for so long. But more importantly, _I_ know _her_ weaknesses. I know what she can handle, and what she can’t. One thing that she always hated was being ignored,” Azula proclaimed.

Kei Lo narrowed his eyes, “So, you’re going to ignore her out of spite?”

“She doesn’t deserve to be acknowledged by me,” Azula said.

“And I do?” Kei Lo wondered.

Azula opened up her mouth to respond, but found that she couldn’t think of anything to say. She wasn’t even sure why she had spoken to Kei Lo in the first place, because she planned on being as difficult as possible so that Izanami would finally get the hint and leave her alone for good. As much as using violence was an easy way of achieving that, Azula knew that if she pushed Izanami too far, the other girl could easily retaliate by going straight to Zuzu.

That wasn’t something that Azula wanted to happen, because Azula knew that Zuko could just as easily take what little freedom she had away. Azula had already been ostracised by her own country, abandoned by those close to her and she’d even lost her dignity. The last thing that Azula wanted to lose was her freedom so nobody was going to take that away from her. Especially not Izanami.

“Don’t contradict me, you imbecile!” Azula snapped.

“It won’t happen again,” Kei Lo squeaked.

“It better not,” Azula muttered darkly.

In the past few years, Azula had found herself to be an extremely irritable person. Her patience was a lot harder to control these days and that was something that would prove to either be a good or a bad thing with her unwelcomed guests. If Azula could have it her way, she’d be as far away from these fools as possible. But if there was one thing that Azula had realised in the past few years, it was that you don’t always get what you want.

~*•°•*~

Away from Azula and Kei Lo, Izanami and Raiden sat together as they discussed what they were going to do. Whenever they discussed their future plans, Izanami and Raiden were always the ones who did the talking. Kei Lo was always happy to just sit by and go along with what they thought. Besides, this wasn’t exactly something that he could put his input on.

“Now that she’s with us, what are we gonna do?” Raiden asked.

“Azula is a stubborn person. She won’t accept anyone’s help, so we have to make her think that she’s helping herself. And I wouldn’t say that she’s ‘with’ us exactly,” Izanami replied.

“You saw how she acted before, Izanami. The girl is a loose cannon. If she doesn’t want our help, then why are we getting involved with her life?” Raiden wondered.

“You don’t understand, Raiden. I _need_ to help Azula. I betrayed her at the Boiling Rock, and although I don’t regret the decision, I regret how things turned out. I blamed myself for what happened with Azula. This is my chance to make things right,” Izanami insisted.

“It wasn’t your fault, Izanami. She chose that path for herself. Things could have been different if the princess allowed them to be,” Raiden reassured her.

Izanami sighed, “I know. But that’s just how I feel. For years I’ve wondered what had become of Azula, and now that I’ve seen it with my own eyes, I hate it. This isn’t how things should’ve turned out for Azula. She had such potential and it just went away with her sanity.”

“We should go back and make sure that Kei Lo is alright with her,” Raiden stated.

Izanami nodded, “I’d hate for him to get hurt again. He’s probably scared out of his mind by being left alone with her.”

To their surprise, when they went back to the cave they found that Kei Lo was handling Azula much better than they thought he would’ve. He still seemed to be scared of the former Fire Nation Princess, but not to the point where he was cowering in fear. As for Azula, she still remained in her position with her restraints on and immediately gave Izanami a deathly look upon her entrance.

“Let’s have some dinner,” Izanami suggested.

“There’s plenty of ash bananas here,” Kei Lo held up a bag.

Izanami glanced at Azula, “ _You’re_ the one who stole all that food?”

“I had to support myself somehow,” Azula muttered.

“We should return these other belongings back to their original owners,” Izanami stated as she reached for a bag, only to be cut off by Azula who firebended a small arc at her.

“And how exactly do we explain finding them?” Raiden questioned.

Izanami shrugged, “We just say that we found the items abandoned in the forest. They’ve seen us plenty of times to know that we’re trustworthy, so they wouldn’t doubt our story. It’s what we have to do.”

“For now, let’s just get everything together,” Kei Lo said.

Out of the corner of her eye, Izanami could see Azula staring off into the distance. If there was anything she could do, Izanami wished that she could read Azula’s mind so that she could understand the other girls thoughts. Maybe that way Izanami could get some insight into what Azula was really thinking because after all these years, Izanami was ashamed to say that she didn’t know Azula anymore. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever known her to begin with.

It was probably for the best that Izanami couldn’t read Azula’s thoughts, because Azula certainly wasn’t having any good ones. Despite having worse days when it came to her sanity, Azula’s mind wasn’t as strong as it used to be. Especially when it was at war with itself.

 **Look at you, playing to Izanami’s rules. Your father would be ashamed to see you like this, Azula!** The dark part of her mind said.

 _Father would want me to wait for the perfect moment to strike. That is what I must do – I cannot act against her now._ The sane part of her mind argued.

**Just admit that you wouldn’t have what it takes to finish Izanami off. You didn’t have what it took before when you had her right where you wanted her!**

_It wasn’t the right time. I need to hurt what matters the most to Izanami before I hurt her._

**Then do it! Hunt down that treacherous family of hers and end them! Make her pay for betraying you! It’s what she deserves!**

_I can’t just do that. I have to weasel my way back into Izanami’s life and then when the moments right, stab her in the back like she did to me! Her last thoughts can be how badly she had wronged me and how everything was her fault, not mine._

**Quit prolonging the process and just do it! Or do you doubt yourself?**

This was a constant battle for Azula, having to decide what she wanted while her mind kept on arguing with what she wanted. Now wasn’t the right time for Azula to be arguing with herself. If she was going to move along on her own, she was going to need to have to come up with a plan to make that happen.

For now Azula figured that her best move was playing along with Izanami’s game, make her think that she’s trusting her. Then when the perfect moment presented itself, Azula would come out of nowhere and make Izanami pay for what she had done to her. Revenge was always something that Azula relished in, and she was going to ensure that revenge with Izanami was achieved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not exactly happy with this chapter, so I could really use some feedback from you guys to know if I’m doing a good job or not. The story is almost over, and I want to finish it off knowing that I gave it the best ending possible and I’m not sure if I’m doing that at the moment.


	44. Walk of Shame

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On another note, it completely slipped my mind last chapter that the one year anniversary of this story has passed so happy birthday/anniversary to Taming the Dragon! I’ve got all the starting dates of my story saved up somewhere and I figured that the anniversary of the story was soon so I went to check it, only to see that I’d already missed the date :(. So I made sure that this chapter was extra good for you guys and for myself in celebration of that so thanks to the people who have continuously supported this story from the beginning.

Being around Azula when she hated her guts was proving to be more difficult than what Izanami had anticipated. She had been fully prepared to put up with Azula hating her since it was the reaction that she had expected, but putting up with it was something completely different. Sure, Izanami and Azula had had a few differences in the past, but nothing compared to this.

Nothing had ever changed their relationship or how they felt towards each other like this had. It was difficult for Izanami because here she was, desperate to salvage any relationship that she could with Azula while her former friend didn’t seem to care at all. Izanami could die and she doubted if Azula would even care about it. Quite frankly, Izanami was more likely to die at Azula’s hands.

It was clear that whenever Azula looked at her there was hatred in her eyes. In the past, that look had been reserved for Azula’s enemies, so Izanami knew that was what she saw her as. Despite that, Azula was yet to make a move against her. Izanami wasn’t sure what it was, but she knew that there was something that was holding Azula back from just attacking her then and there.

One thing that had always been difficult for Azula for as long as Izanami had known her was interacting with people in public. Izanami couldn’t help but think back to that time at Ember Island when they went to that obnoxious guys party and Azula made a pathetic attempt at flirting. Because of the state that she was in now, Izanami knew that Azula wasn’t in the best place possible to interact with people. But if Izanami was going to change that, then she was going to need to integrate Azula back into society and she might as well start now.

“We’re going into town to return what you stole, Azula,” Izanami stated as she and the boys gathered their belongings.

In response to that, Azula simply rolled her eyes and looked the other way. Having Azula ignore her like this was frustrating. She was almost behaving like a child, and Izanami wasn’t sure if that was part of some rebellion on her behalf or not.

“You should come with us, Azula,” Kei Lo suggested.

Azula scoffed, “Why should I bother to associate myself with the peasants that are out there? Why should I even return what they didn’t deserve?”

That comment came as a surprise to Izanami, since she hadn’t expected any response from Azula like she had been getting so far. What was it about Kei Lo that made Azula even bother to respond to him? She barely knew him and tried to kill him the other day. So why was she even paying attention to him?

“It would be good for you to come with us. I’m sure that Izanami would find it frustrating to have you there. She hates having people drag her down,” Kei Lo said.

“I certainly know that. Out of her, Mai and Ty Lee, she was always the most difficult one to handle,” Azula remarked.

“I resent that,” Izanami commented.

Just when Izanami thought that she could’ve gotten somewhere from Azula, the girl only huffed in response. Why was she acting like this? Why couldn’t they just act civil without all of this pettiness? Azula’s behaviour to Izanami was just childish and unnecessary.

But the idea of being able to rile Izanami up obviously persuaded Azula, so they packed up her camp set up and headed towards the village. With Azula in tow, this was certainly going to be interesting.

~*•°•*~

For Azula, entering the public eye wasn’t something that she liked to do in the Fire Nation. She knew that she had one of the most recognisable faces in the Fire Nation, but she had certainly changed a lot in the past few years. Azula had barely stepped foot in the public eye, only when she did she was always under disguise. Now she was in full view of everyone and everything, and that thought was unsettling.

What was even more unsettling was being out there with Izanami and her little boy toys. Despite having not seen Izanami in so long, Azula was still confident that she could read her former friend. It was clear that there was something that she felt towards that Raiden boy, who she remembered Izanami talking to that time when they visited Ember Island. As for Kei Lo, it was just like he was tagging along with them for the sake of it.

Azula wasn’t sure why she had allowed him to talk her into going with them, since they had all gone together that could’ve been her chance to make a break for it. The thought of making things difficult for Izanami had to have been it, since Izanami had certainly made things difficult for her by betraying her. It was the least that Azula owed her by making Izanami’s life just a little bit more harder.

“We can stop by the market and return these ash bananas by saying that we got an extra delivery to make. Then we can return these other belongings and come up with something along the way,” Izanami stated.

“Do you know your way around this place, Azula?” Kei Lo asked.

“I know the good places to hit,” Azula muttered.

“Then we’ll lead the way,” Raiden said.

The whole time they walked through the town of Shu Jing, Azula stood as far away as she could from the trio of Izanami, Raiden and Kei Lo. It just felt uncomfortable for her to be in their presence considering how she felt towards them. Her biggest problem was with Izanami for obvious reasons, Raiden just looked at her with disgust and then Kei Lo was just… something. Something that she couldn’t quite put her finger on and that irritated her.

It was shameful that Azula was walking like this when as a princess, she’d never had to walk. She could just use the palanquin whenever she wanted to go anywhere. Azula had grown used to having people there to do everything that she wanted. But in the past few years, Azula had certainly realised that you can’t always have people do everything for you. After all, if you want something done right you have to do it yourself.

Interacting with people was always something that Azula had struggled with because it wasn’t really something that she was taught growing up. That had played a part in her group of Fire Warriors disbanding. It had been nine months ago when Azula had gone to find herself alone without anyone beside her. There had been months of tension building up as Azula had been yet to give them another mission. Having been fed up of waiting, they had just left.

If she was being honest, Azula had always known that they weren’t necessarily loyal to her out of the goodness of her heart. It had been because Azula had manipulated them to stay loyal because she had broken them out of the mental institution. Just like she had done with Mai and Ty Lee, Azula had used her manipulation tactics to control them. Azula wasn’t afraid of admitting that she had used fear to control Mai and Ty Lee, but she liked to think that she hadn’t used that on Izanami.

“Thank you so much for these extra supplies. It will certainly boost business,” the trader said as he unknowingly got his stolen supplies back.

“We’re always happy to help,” Izanami smiled.

It was sickening for Azula to see Izanami being so _sweet_ to someone that she barely knew when she hadn’t even offered Azula the same sweetness. Izanami had just so easily cast her aside like she was nothing and the fact that she was being so kind to that man irritated her. Why couldn’t Izanami just show her true colours to everyone like she had done to her? Azula was positive that Raiden and Kei Lo didn’t know what a backstabbing hippo cow she truly was and it was only a matter of time before they saw that.

They continued moving along while Azula simply kept her head down to avoid being recognised. Seeing these people acting like everything in their lives was okay was a constant struggle for Azula. And by struggle it was a struggle to not be able to make their lives as miserable as hers had become.

It was especially difficult watching children be so painfully happy, since she hadn’t had that luxury either as a child. Azula found herself remembering the time that she and Zuzu had searched for their mother and had unknowingly met her and their half-sister, Kiyi. Watching that girl play with her little dolls had been stupid. That wasn’t what Azula had done in her childhood at that age. So to realise that the reason why that girl was happy was because of _her_ mother that didn’t give Azula that same happiness only enraged her even more.

Did she not deserve to have a happy childhood? Is that why she hardly had any happy memories apart from Ember Island? Did she not even deserve to be happy now? Is that why Azula was still so _angry_ about things that had happened in the past? Why is it that everyone had been able to move on from that _except_ for her?

Was she doing this to herself?

A tug on Azula’s arm and a small voice caught her attention, “Girlie, can you help me?”

Looking down, Azula saw a small girl that had to have been the same age as Kiyi was when Azula first met her. She suddenly found herself wondering what the child had to have become. She was probably eight now, and Azula realised that that was how old she was when her mother disappeared. That thought made her angry and it made Azula hope that her mother would disappear again so that Kiyi would know what it felt like to have a parent that didn’t love you.

“What?” Azula snapped angrily.

“I lost my mommy and I can’t find her,” the girls lip quivered.

 _The spirits truly are out for me, aren’t they? That has to be why such irony keeps on happening. Well, I’ve had enough!_ Azula thought bitterly to herself.

“Well, that’s too bad,” Azula drawled as she crouched down to the child’s level. “You know what’s gonna be _really_ hard? Growing up knowing that your mother wants _nothing_ to do with you while she’s out there living a happy life that she doesn’t deserve. Then you’re gonna grow up some more and be reunited with her one day only to find that-“

“Azula!” Izanami’s loud voice intervened just as the child was almost about to cry.

“She always does this,” Azula hissed to herself.

“Emotionally scaring children isn’t exactly a nice thing to do,” Izanami berated her with a cold stare. “Why don’t you hang back with Raiden while Kei Lo and I return this child to her mother?”

Just like she had done so far whenever Izanami had spoken to her, Azula simply huffed in response and stalked off. Only once Izanami was sure that Azula had done as she’d asked did she turn her attention back to the girl who was almost close to tears.

“I’m so sorry if she upset you,” Izanami apologised.

“Why’s she so mean?” the girl cried.

Izanami sighed, “Some people…. Some people just don’t know how to be nice. My… friend is one of those people.”

“But you know how to be nice, right?” Kei Lo asked.

The girl nodded, “Mommy always tells me that you wanna be nice to people like you’d want them to be to you.”

“You should remember that rule for the rest of your life,” Izanami said.

Together with Kei Lo, Izanami wandered through the town of Shu Jing as they tried to find the young girls mother. Of course, before they did Izanami wanted to make sure that the girl wasn’t upset over what Azula had said to her. Izanami had always known that Azula relished in seeing other people sad or miserable, but she had never understood why. It was unfathomable to her why Azula would _want_ to make someone cry.

That was definitely something that Izanami was going to have to work on with Azula, if she’d even let her in on the first place. They eventually did reunite the girl with her mother, and Izanami could only wish that that was how Azula’s reunion with Ursa had gone. Maybe then Azula wouldn’t be so bitter like she is now.

~*•°•*~

For the first time, Raiden found himself alone with Azula. He wasn’t really sure what he thought of the former Fire Nation princess. Before meeting Izanami, Raiden had just seen her as this lunatic alongside her father. But Izanami had given him a different perspective on her, just like she’d given him a different perspective on everything. But he still didn’t know how he felt being so close to someone who could just as easily kill him.

Since it was just him and Azula, Raiden made sure to keep her close and didn’t give her that many windows of opportunity to break free from him and make a run for it. Although Raiden wouldn’t mind if Azula just went loose, he knew that Izanami would never forgive him for letting that happened. The things that Raiden did for Izanami were sometimes a chore, but she always made up for it by doing something for him. Helping her crazy friend was just another one of those things.

“We’re going to meet back up with Izanami and Kei Lo,” Raiden said as they finished what they had come to do.

Raiden got an inaudible response to that just like he and Izanami had gotten from any other time that they had made an effort to communicate with Azula. The only person that she had spoken to had been Kei Lo, and that in it of itself was confusing to Raiden. She’d practically tried to kill him when she first saw him, and now he was the only person that she even made the effort to speak to.

 _Kei Lo always attracts the strange girls._ Raiden thought amusedly to himself, thinking back to Kei Lo’s most prominent relationship with Mai and any other girl who had shown interest in him since.

As they walked back to find Izanami and Kei Lo, Raiden couldn’t help but notice how Azula spent the whole time muttering inaudible nonsense under her breath. She continued doing so even after Kei Lo and Izanami had met back up with them. It was nerve racking being in Azula’s presence most of the time, but even more so when she was like this. Part of him wanted to cut the air and ask what the heck was going on, but at the same time he was almost afraid of doing so with someone like her.

“What are we doing next?” Kei Lo asked once they had found themselves in an open-spaced area.

“I’m not sure,” Izanami replied with a shrug. “Maybe we should try venturing off some more? See the parts of the Fire Nation that we haven’t seen before.”

“Maybe we should stop acting like a bunch of fools,” Azula spat.

Izanami narrowed her eyes, “How are we acting like fools?”

“Oh come _on_. Doing all of this goody-two shoes nonsense hardly seems like something you could make a living out of, Izanami,” Azula replied.

“Why’s that?” Izanami questioned.

“Because it’s not _you_. You’re _not_ a goody-two shoes. You’re just a big phony. How you can act like Agni’s gift to the world and put on such a _façade_ is beyond me,” Azula growled.

“You think that this is an _act_?” Izanami clarified.

“It was for me,” Azula muttered, though Izanami still heard her.

“My friendship with you wasn’t fake, Azula. It might have ended like it was but the friendship that we had was genuine. It’s just a shame that things ended the way they did,” Izanami insisted.

Azula glared at her, “Because of _you_.”

“Our friendship didn’t end because of me, Azula. You could’ve realised that I was doing what was right but you were too oblivious because of your fathers manipulation to realise that,” Izanami declared.

“ _Excuse me_?” Azula drawled.

“You heard me,” Izanami crossed her arms. “The only reason you still can’t see that what you’ve always believed in is wrong is because of how your father has manipulated you for your entire life.”

“Liar!” Azula seethed.

“Deep down, you know I’m right. You’re such an expert manipulator and one would think that you would’ve been able to see through someone’s manipulations, especially when that person is your father and you should know him so well. But did you really know him? Did you really know the person that your father was or had you always just put him on this pedestal and been completely oblivious to who he was?” Izanami ranted.

“I always knew who my father was! He was the greatest firebender in the world until the Avatar selfishly took his bending away and ruined his image forever! I know that my father loved me. Can you say the same for yours?” Azula smirked, knowing that she would strike a chord with her by using the father card.

Izanami sighed, “I know that my father probably didn’t love me. And it’s a shame that you have to stoop that low to feel like you have something on me. But with the way he treated you, do you really think that your father loved you? You were only a tool for him. You were never a daughter to him, just a weapon of mass destruction. It’s a shame that you can’t see that for yourself.”

“Because it’s not true! My father loved me! Stop trying to fill my head with lies just like mother!” Azula screamed.

“They’re not lies, Azula. It’s the truth that you’re too blind to see,” Izanami insisted.

“Stop it!” Azula yelled, balling her fists with fire. “If you’re going to keep on filling my head with lies then maybe I should just end this now! I’ve been too patient with you!”

“You’re right,” Izanami nodded. “Just like _I’ve_ been too patient with you. Maybe it’s time we settled this the only way you’ll want to.”

Azula narrowed her eyes, “How would that be?”

“With our bending,” Izanami sighed.

Getting into a fight with Azula was the last thing that Izanami wanted, especially with Azula’s mental state as fragile as it was. But if that was the only way to draw a line and end this battle that they were having, then Izanami was willing to do just that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m gonna be honest, this chapter didn’t end how I had originally planned it to at this stage. There was never gonna be any sort of battle between Azula and Izanami but now, I feel like it’s kind of necessary considering the tension between them. It’s all going to lead to an explosive ending by the fiftieth chapter where everything will become full circle.


	45. Heating Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been feeling really lazy the past week, like I don’t have the motivation to do anything and I’m just so tired. But I didn’t want to waste any more time and I wanted to write this chapter for you guys so here it is.

Nothing left Azula more frazzled than when someone challenged her like Izanami had just done. It wasn’t because Azula doubted her abilities, it was because usually she did the challenging. People were usually too afraid to challenge her, which was something that she relished in. So the fact that Izanami actually had the guts to challenge her showed that she obviously didn’t have the same fear that she used to. Who did Izanami think she was to challenge her like that?

It was clear that Izanami didn’t _really_ want to challenge her, so Azula didn’t understand why she was doing it. Izanami had to want to humiliate her more than she already had. But if anyone was going to end up humiliated, it was going to be Izanami.

“If you want to fight me so bad, then fine! Let’s fight!” Azula seethed.

Before Izanami could even react, Azula punched a blast of fire at her which Raiden saw coming, so he protected Izanami by bending a wall of flames to stop the blue fire from reaching her. As for Kei Lo, he just backed away to a point where he could protect himself.

“Aw, your boytoy is protecting you. How _sweet_?” Azula drawled.

“Stay out of this,” Izanami barked as she shifted her fingers.

“It’s a real shame that you need to rely on your boytoy to protect you, Izanami. How pathetic!” Azula growled.

“We’ll see who’s pathetic in a moment,” Izanami muttered.

This time, Izanami was the one to make the first move as she created a fire whip and used it against Azula who blocked it with her own fire whip. All Raiden and Kei Lo could do was watch as the two former friends battled it out. This was no friendly brawl or sparring session. It was just like any good old-fashioned Agni Kai with both opponents equally determined to win.

Using her normal form, Azula firebended with her fingers pointed out and ready to shoot. Every second that passed felt like a lifetime. Just like she always did whenever she duelled, Azula kept her eyes and ears open for any sign of weakness. While it was clear that Izanami’s bending had become a lot more polished in the past few years but Azula could still see a few of her old tricks. Izanami still performed more strongly with her dominant side, she was still somewhat hesitant before she did anything and she was still quite clearly afraid of lightning.

On the other hand, Izanami was doing her own examination of Azula to see if she’d be able to get the better of her. Azula’s way of fighting had only changed a bit over the past few years. She still made every move with precision and acted quickly, except the way she performed her bending wasn’t the same. Her movements were a lot more erratic. She still moved with precision, but the way her bending came out was certainly not the same. Izanami figured that that was something to do with Azula’s lack of sanity.

“You really think you can handle me, Izanami? Do you?” Azula shrieked as she attacked her mercilessly.

Part of the reason why Izanami had challenged Azula was to see if Azula really did despise her as much as she seemed to. Even though she was attacking her without hesitation, Izanami liked to think that there was a small part of Azula that didn’t want to hurt her. She was just going to wait until that part came out and use it to her advantage.

As they watched on the sidelines, Raiden and Kei Lo became immersed with the battle that was taking place and were joined by another set of eyes in the distance. They had never seen a display of firebending quite like this. Azula was ruthlessly firing blasts at Izanami as she skated around on her fire jets while Izanami shielded herself with her firebending. It was safe to say that Izanami’s bending was still weaker than Azula’s as she struggled to keep her shield up to protect herself.

It eventually became too much for Izanami and she was pushed back by Azula’s blast. Using Izanami’s tumble to her advantage Azula catapulted herself into the air with her firebending and spun herself mid-air, swinging her heel downwards and firebending an arc of flames towards Izanami.

Fear instantly took over Izanami which she used to fuel herself. Just as Azula’s arc of flames was about to reach her, Izanami spun herself around on the ground and performed several spinning kicks which she used to shield herself from Azula’s attack. One thing that Izanami had improved upon in the past few years was her defensive skills which were certainly coming in handy as she duelled Azula. Izanami tried counteracting her attack but she failed as Azula leapt into the air and on a nearby ledge.

“You’re just so _weak_ Izanami,” Azula spat venomously. “Just like Zuzu, you can’t even work up the courage to attack me! You’re just sitting there showing off your _pathetic_ bending while I’m doing tricks you could only dream of doing!”

To prove her point, Azula flipped herself forward and held onto the ledge as she kicked a blast of fire towards Izanami who skated away with her firebending. Once she was at a safe enough distance, Izanami punched a blast of fire at Azula who haltered it with her own blast. Azula cackled maniacally as she continuously punched blast after blast at Izanami who was struggling to keep up with her. Izanami could only hold her own against Azula for so long, and she was beginning to worry for her own self-preservation as Azula seemed to dip further into madness.

This had to have been what her Agni Kai with Zuko was like. Izanami had heard that Azula was already in a weak stage before the duel began, but her mental state only seemed to deteriorate as it went on. That was a lot like how their Agni Kai right now was going. Azula only seemed to be getting more insane despite starting off in somewhat of a decent head space. That only scared Izanami even more which made her wonder if it was the wrong thing to do by challenging Azula like this.

“If only you could see how pathetic you looked now, Izanami!” Azula taunted.

“If only _you_ could see how sick you are now, Azula,” Izanami remarked.

“How dare you! It’s time I taught you a lesson, don’t you think?” Azula shrieked.

For a moment, Izanami thought that this would be when Azula would break down and she would be able to help her fragile mind. Only that’s not what happened. If there was anyone who broke down, it was Izanami after she felt an excruciating pain on her shoulder as she fell towards the ground.

“That’s what you get for challenging me!” Azula cackled. “Next I’ll get your _precious_ family and see how you like having that taken away from you!”

With that, Azula propelled herself into the air with her fire jets as she laughed maniacally and flew away, satisfied at the pain that she had inflicted upon Izanami. It only served her right, since that was just the kind of pain that Azula had felt after her betrayal.

Down below, Raiden and Kei Lo were quick to rush towards Izanami’s side as she convulsed on the ground in pain. Despite having seen the pain that Azula’s blue fire could cause, Izanami had never expected it to be this painful. Then again, she had never expected to be on the receiving end of Azula’s fire like this.

“Izanami, are you okay?” Raiden exclaimed as he raced to her side.

“…Hurts…” Izanami trailed off weakly.

“It’ll be okay. You’ll be okay. We’re gonna get you fixed up,” Raiden reassured her.

“W-where… Is… s-she?” Izanami struggled asking.

The pain that she was experienced was excruciating. It was unlike any kind of physical pain that she had felt before. Izanami winced in pain as she realised that it was the same place where she had been burned on the day of Sozin’s Comet. Even with comet enhanced firebending it didn’t hurt as much as Azula’s firebending did. Her firebending was unlike any in the world.

“She took off,” Kei Lo replied, suspecting that she was referring to Azula.

“F-find h-her,” Izanami stammered.

“No, Izanami. We need to help you get better. We’re going to get you some help and then we’ll figure out what we’re gonna do,” Raiden said.

All Izanami could do was wince in pain as Raiden and Kei Lo tried picking her up. She managed to stand on her own feet for a few minutes as they wobbled underneath her until the pain in her arm combined with the exhaustion that she felt became too much. It was then up to Raiden and Kei Lo to carry her themselves as Izanami found herself down and out.

~*•°•*~ 

Ever since Izanami had forced her way back into her life, Azula had been looking for a way to get rid of her. She had originally planned to wait it out until Izanami lowered her guard before she made a deadly strike, but when Izanami seemed to be willing to speed up the process, Azula was more than happy to obliged. It had certainly given her back some pride knowing how easily she’d been able to weaken Izanami before delivering the final blow. Maybe now Izanami would finally take the hint that Azula didn’t want her in her life and leave her alone.

Now that Azula was on her own again just like she wanted, she was going to have to find something else to do with her life. It was clear that staying in this town wasn’t an option now that she knew Izanami was aware of this place. Chances were that if Azula remained where she was, Izanami would find her again.

It wasn’t until Azula had that thought that she realised what she had done to Izanami. In the past, Azula would’ve never thought that she’d intentionally hurt Izanami like she had just had. Azula had hurt her like she was her enemy, which she was. Azula had seen the pain in Izanami as she flew away and it was unfathomable to her that she hadn’t relished in it like she thought she would. Part of her had almost regretted it, and she wasn’t sure if it was because she hadn’t hurt Izanami enough or if it was because she had hurt her in the first place.

When it had come to hurting people in the past, Azula had relished in it. She had relished in making people fear her and making them become weak like she had done to Izanami. Azula had watched as Izanami became weaker and weaker before her eyes which she had relished in. But Azula hadn’t relished in the pain that she had inflicted upon her like she thought she would’ve and not knowing why frustrated her.

 _“You know why you didn’t relish in it, Azula,”_ the familiar nagging voice of her mother entered her mind.

“Ugh, now is not the time for this nonsense, mother,” Azula hissed.

 _“Now is not the time for you to be acting like this after you have just burned your friend and left her for dead,”_ her mother reprimanded her.

“You’re saying it like I killed her,” Azula rolled her eyes.

 _“But you might as well have, Azula,”_ her mother said.

“But I didn’t!” Azula exclaimed.

 _“And you’re glad you didn’t, aren’t you, Azula? You’re glad that you didn’t kill Izanami because it would’ve left you guilt-ridden and because you didn’t want to kill her. Deep down, you know that,”_ her mother taunted her.

“Here you go again, mother. Acting like you know me when you don’t!” Azula spat. “You don’t know how I feel, mother, so stop acting like you do!”

 _“But I do know you, Azula. I know you because I am inside your own head and I know your own thoughts. You did not want to hurt Izanami and you’re struggling to deal with that because it’s what you’ve thought you wanted for so long,”_ her mother insisted.

“Shut up!” Azula shrieked angrily as she heard the rustling from the bushes which only added more to her frustration.

Not being able to put up with her mothers nagging now, Azula firebended a blast of fire at the figure of her mother that she knew wasn’t there. Nothing was more annoying than having these persistent battles with her own mind when all Azula wanted was to be able to get through a day without lighting her head on fire.

At the same time, Azula couldn’t help but think about her mothers persistent words. Her mother had been insistent on making her believe that she hadn’t wanted to hurt Izanami and maybe Azula knew that she was right, but she couldn’t just admit it after it was what she had wanted all of this time. But Azula had to face the facts. She _hadn’t_ wanted to hurt Izanami despite her mind telling to.

And that realisation was the hardest to deal with.

~*•°•*~ 

After Izanami had collapsed on them, Raiden and Kei Lo had taken her back to Shu Jing to hopefully find a place where she could heal and rest. It hadn’t taken them long to find just the place for her to heal. Once Izanami had been given what she needed, it wasn’t long before she did get back up as they tried mending her wound.

There was a part of Izanami that had thought she’d dreamt what had happened because never before did she think that Azula would hurt her like she just had. But the proof was there for her to see, and knowing that Azula had hurt her hurt more than the pain from the injury itself. The healer had wrapped her arm in a bandage and told her that the injury would take at least several weeks to start healing.

“How are you feeling?” Raiden asked as Izanami sat on her bed.

“Hurt,” Izanami muttered.

Raiden sighed, “I know it must hurt to know what Azula did to you, but maybe that’s a sign that you should leave her alone. She’s clearly out to get you. First she hurt Kei Lo and now she’s hurt you. It’s only a matter of time before she does something far more dangerous.”

“But I _have_ to save her. The only person who can save Azula from herself is me,” Izanami said.

“The only person who can save Azula from herself is herself and she has made it clear that she doesn’t want to be saved,” Raiden stated.

“You don’t understand. Azula can’t comprehend what’s right and what’s wrong. I need to help her realise what she needs,” Izanami insisted.

“Azula is a grown person. She has surely seen enough in her life to know what is right and what is wrong. If she can’t make that distinction, then that’s her fault,” Raiden argued.

“Haven’t you realised that Azula has such a messed up moral compass that she doesn’t know what’s right and wrong? She can’t figure that out on her own. She needs someone to guide her through this and that person needs to be me,” Izanami proclaimed.

Silence filled the room as Raiden struggled to come up with an argument against Izanami. It was clear that Izanami was determined no matter what to help Azula, even after she had just burned her and even after she just left her like that. Raiden was still yet to understand why Izanami couldn’t just let her go and move on, but part of him knew that it was because she was too good of a person and sometimes, that was her downfall.

“You’ve certainly had better days than this, Izanami,” a familiar voice entered the room.

Shock was all Izanami felt as she recognised Azula’s voice. Sure enough, standing at the entrance of the room alongside Kei Lo was Azula. It was a complete surprise to Izanami since the last thing that she had expected to see was Azula voluntarily coming back to her.

“What are you doing here?” Izanami spluttered.

“Don’t you _want_ me here?” Azula drawled.

“Of course, but _why_ are you here? I thought that you left,” Izanami stated.

“I did, but then I changed my mind,” Azula shrugged.

“Again, _why_?” Izanami repeated.

“You don’t need to know,” Azula muttered.

Figuring that it was better to not push Azula’s button, Izanami stopped pressing the matter. She wasn’t exactly a betting person, but Izanami was willing to bet that Azula had returned because she actually _cared_ about her.

“So, uh… What do you want to do?” Izanami asked.

Azula sighed, “Whatever you want as long as it’s away from here.”

That was good enough of a response for Izanami. She couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Azula coming back for her, because Izanami knew that that would be the only reason why Azula would bother returning. It might be a small step, but it was enough for Izanami.

Maybe in time Azula would be able to admit that to Izanami but for now, she would take what she could get and this would be enough. After all, they still had a long way to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m glad that I got this chapter out today and I hope that you guys enjoyed it. After this chapter we can count the amount of chapters left on one hand and I’m excited to finish this story. I’ve still got a few surprises up my sleeves – one of which will occur in the next chapter so stay tuned until the very end.


	46. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being kind of late with this update, I started writing the chapter later than I normally did which is why I posted it later than I normally do. I bet you guys thought that everything would be all like frolicking through the flowers for Azula and Izanami now. You would be wrong in that assumption, which you are about to find out by the end of this chapter. So you can expect things to pick up again from here…

Once Izanami had been allowed to go, the foursome of her, Kei Lo, Raiden and Azula headed off to find somewhere else to go. They hadn’t really made an official decision as to where they wanted to go, they had all just decided that they’d go wherever the wind took them. As much as Izanami wanted somewhere more permanent to stay, like with Niko and Gen, she knew that as long as Azula was with them, it was probably better for them to just keep moving. At least this way Azula couldn’t get into any serious trouble.

There was a thick tension in the air, like the tension from the aftermath of a problem that hasn’t properly been dealt with. Izanami knew what that problem was though. She knew that it was the unresolved feelings that had been left behind as a result of the betrayal. Azula was still harbouring animosity, although she wasn’t showing it as obviously as she originally was.

All Izanami wanted to do was clear the air with Azula, but she was almost scared to even approach her on that issue. That was something that never would’ve entered her mind, but after Azula so easily lashed out on her, Izanami wasn’t sure what to expect from her anymore. As much as Izanami liked to think that Azula really hadn’t wanted to hurt her, she knew that Azula’s lack of mental stability made her irrational.

“You need to talk to her,” Raiden said as he and Izanami sat by themselves. Azula had ‘gone for a walk’ but to be on the safe side, they had made Kei Lo follow her.

“I just don’t know how,” Izanami sighed. “Trust me, there is nothing more that I want to do than to sort this out but I just don’t know how. I can’t be the only one who wants to fix this. Azula has to want it as well.”

“But you were all determined to get through to her a few days ago,” Raiden pointed out. “What’s changed?”

“Weren’t you the one telling me to forget about Azula and move on?” Izanami rolled her eyes.

“It might be what I want, but that’s for my own selfish interests. You know that I’m only worried about Azula as a safety concern. If she was fine everywhere else, I’d have no problem with you wanting this,” Raiden said.

“It’s just that, for the first time I’m _scared_ about what Azula could do. Before I was never worried because she had never actively tried to hurt me, only she just did. It’s hard to look at her the same way knowing that she still hurt me despite herself not wanting to,” Izanami admitted.

“Izanami, if you can get inside Azula’s head and make her see things your way, then maybe you’ll be able to convince her why she should give up on what she has been doing with her life. It’s not right for her and you need to make her realise that. Only you have the ability to make her realise that,” Raiden insisted.

“You just want to be able to sleep at night, don’t you?” Izanami smirked.

“Yes, I would like to be able to sleep without worrying about some crazy firebender chick. I shouldn’t have to worry about that. I don’t want her hurting you or Kei Lo anymore than she has,” Raiden said.

“I know. But I actually don’t think that Kei Lo is much of a problem in regards to Azula,” Izanami commented.

“What makes you say that?” Raiden wondered.

“Did you not notice how when we found her, he only spoke to her? He was the one who convinced her to come into the town with us to return what she stole. It’s almost like he has this power over her which is strange, considering I would’ve expected him to be terrified of her after she burned him,” Izanami answered.

“I asked him why she was speaking to him only, and he said that it was some kind of rebellion thing for her in regards to you. As for his lack of fear, Kei Lo kind of forced it upon himself when he realised that he was going to have to spend more time with her. It’s even surprised me how he’s managed to get over it since she did threaten him in the past,” Raiden said.

“Yeah, I know about his incident with the Kemurikage. I was told all about it in great detail,” Izanami commented.

“Just remember, Izanami,” Raiden grasped her hands in his. “Don’t let this struggle with Azula destroy you. I would hate for you to lose the sparkle in your pretty little eyes because of her.”

“You think my eyes are pretty, huh?” Izanami found herself blushing.

“Well, yeah. But not just your eyes,” Raiden quickly added. “All of you is, well… pretty.”

Izanami giggled, “Glad to hear it. And don’t worry, I’ll try not to let whatever happens with Azula in the future affect me. If it’s meant to be, it’ll be. If not, then I’ll just have to learn to accept that.”

“So are you going to see if it’s meant to be?” Raiden asked.

“I guess there’s no time like the present,” Izanami conceded before noticing that Raiden was still holding her hands. “You can, uh… let go of me now.”

“Oh, right. Sorry,” Raiden apologised as he let go.

“Don’t be,” Izanami smiled.

With this newfound confidence from Raiden, Izanami decided then and there that it was time to make one more effort in reconciliation with Azula. Izanami hadn’t given up yet, and she wasn’t going to let everything that they had been through be for nothing.

~*•°•*~ 

Even though Izanami knew that Azula couldn’t have gone that far, she still took her time in finding her so that she would know what to say once she did. Izanami had never felt this nervous before when it came to talking to Azula. Sure, she’d been afraid of Azula only a few weeks ago because of her mental state, but even then Izanami still had the nerve to speak with her. Only now that she’d been hurt by Azula was Izanami worried about what would happen with another attempt.

This was what Izanami had been longing for over the past few years, reconciliation with Azula. She had wanted to fix things between them, but had never been able to. Now Izanami had the chance to do that, and she wasn’t going to waste it. If Izanami could just make this happen, then maybe she could make a friendship with Azula work. That was all Izanami wanted. No matter what Azula had done, Izanami had always wanted her friend back.

Ahead, Izanami could hear voices which she distinctly recognised as Azula and Kei Lo’s. It was a surprise to hear them talking, since they had only sent Kei Lo to follow her. Azula had to have spotted them, and now it seemed like they were engaging in a civil conversation. Although Izanami knew that it was wrong to eavesdrop on other peoples conversations, she couldn’t help herself when she heard her name brought up.

“… that’s just always how Izanami has been,” Azula said.

“At least, when you knew her,” Kei Lo interjected. “I might not have known her then but I know her enough now to know that she’s not the same person that she might’ve been when you knew her.”

“All I see is the same girl who betrayed me,” Azula seethed.

“And she’s trying to make amends for that. Trust me, Raiden and I have tried talking her out of this since the moment she wanted to make amends with you but she has ignored us. All she wants is to fix things between you two,” Kei Lo said.

“If you don’t want Izanami talking to me then why are you doing it?” Azula asked.

Kei Lo shrugged, “You kind of cornered me, remember? One minute you were in front of me and the next I was being flipped to the ground and in a choke hold.”

“Well, that’s because you were stupid enough to alert me. If you’re going to follow someone, don’t give yourself away,” Azula remarked.

“I’ll remember that next time Izanami sends me to follow you,” Kei Lo chuckled.

“She really doesn’t trust me enough? Shame on her,” Azula growled.

“Well, you can’t blame her for not trusting you given how sketchy you’ve been. One minute you want nothing to do with her and the next you’re perfectly fine. And of course, you did burn her,” Kei Lo pointed out.

“Part of me likes to think that she deserved it and that it served her right after what she did to me. But then there’s the part of me that’s not so sure, and I’ve been struggling with those parts,” Azula admitted.

“Then you need to learn to deal with it. Raiden and I have had some tough times, but we’ve managed to deal with them and ourselves. You need to learn to deal with your struggles and Izanami. She’s only going to keep on coming after you,” Kei Lo said.

“Do you think that she’ll stop if I give her what she wants?” Azula asked.

“Maybe, maybe not. If you put on a good enough show, you could convince her enough. But if she knew you as well as she says she does, then she’d be able to notice the truth behind it,” Kei Lo replied.

“Izanami likes to think that she knows me, but she really doesn’t! She doesn’t know what I’ve had to go through the past few years. She might think that she’s had it tough, but I’ve had it far worse than she has!” Azula snarled.

As Izanami watched from behind, it was almost like she was watching an internal battle from Azula. One minute, she was cool, calm and collected and then the next, it was like this internal volcano came out. It was obvious that Azula was struggling to control herself, and Izanami could see how she was balling her fists out of anger and the occasionally uncomfortable twitch that came from her eyes. But for Azula to be able to have a civil conversation like that was enough of itself.

“You obviously knew her enough to give her a nickname,” Kei Lo commented.

“Only because Izanami has just one too many syllables for one name. But it doesn’t matter, she doesn’t deserve to be called that by me. She lost that privilege,” Azula grumbled.

“Well, she wants it back,” Kei Lo said.

“Then she’s going to have to prove that she’s worthy of my companionship again. I’ll certainly make that hard for her,” Azula smirked.

“I’m sure you will,” Kei Lo nodded uncomfortably.

“She can start by putting some trust in me which includes not eavesdropping on my conversations,” Azula remarked.

To say that Izanami had been caught off guard by that remark would be a bit of a lie, since it wasn’t a second later when Izanami realised that she had been pretty stupid to spy on Azula. Of course Azula would be able to know that she wasn’t alone.

“As stimulating as our conversation was Kei Lo, I think that Izanami has just been busting to get her hands on me,” Azula said.

“Alright. I’ll be back with Raiden if you guys want us,” Kei Lo gave them both one last look before he disappeared through the trees.

An awkward silence overwhelmed them as they just stood there, staring at each other. Izanami had been putting up with too much silence form Azula and she wasn’t going to put up with any of it anymore. To her surprise though, it was Azula that broke it.

“So, are you going to just stand there or are you going to beg for my forgiveness,” Azula crossed her arms.

“I’m not going to beg for your forgiveness because I do not believe that I did anything wrong,” Izanami stated.

“You betrayed me!” Azula growled, her fists clenched.

“For the right reasons! I didn’t betray you because I wanted you to suffer or because I wanted anything like this to happen to you. I betrayed you for the greater good! The war was wrong, and if you have failed to see that after all this time then I don’t see how I can convince you of what I want,” Izanami proclaimed.

“All we were doing was sharing our peace and prosperity with the rest of the world,” Azula argued.

“Oh my gosh, how delusional can you be to believe that, Azula? Do you really think that destroying lives and villages is sharing _peace_?” Izanami questioned.

“That was all we wanted to do, but everybody else just made it difficult for us. We were protecting ourselves,” Azula insisted, her voice faltering.

“I really didn’t think that you would be this stupid, Azula. At least I hoped that you wouldn’t be,” Izanami murmured.

“Do you not see what the war being over has done to our country? We are far more weaker than we were before because little Zuzu has been trying to make nice with everyone else. What he doesn’t realise is that people are always going to be jealous of those that have power like we do. They are always going to want to undermine him, just like that foolish Earth King tried to do,” Azula argued.

“Azula, your logic is seriously flawed and messed up and that is because it is the logic that Ozai brought you up with. You could’ve seen the error in it like I did during our travels, but you chose to be ignorant. All my life, my parents tried to show me the ‘proper’ way of living but I had realised that it was not the way that you should live. You don’t have to live like this Azula,” Izanami disagreed.

“And what? I should be weak like _you_ instead?” Azula seethed.

“I’m not weak for standing up for what I believe in, Azula. If anything, it makes me powerful. You need to understand that it’s okay to have different opinions than the ones that you were forced to believe,” Izanami insisted.

“I wasn’t forced to believe anything! I believed them with my own rights!” Azula exclaimed.

“Because you don’t know any better! You haven’t seen how wrong your way of thinking is. You haven’t had someone to teach you the right way of doing things like Zuko had Iroh. Because of Iroh, Zuko was able to see the error in our nations way. You didn’t have that person. I tried to be that person, but you didn’t let me,” Izanami said.

“I don’t need that person! I am a grown person who doesn’t need anyone to tell them the difference between right and wrong. I know what it is,” Azula argued.

“No you don’t!” Izanami yelled. “You know nothing about what is right and wrong because you have had other people telling you what is since the day you were born. It’s time to open up your perspective and open yourself up to the possibilities. Stop being so close minded.”

“That’s easy for you to say, you at least know how to be like that. Like you said, I haven’t had anyone to teach me how,” Azula snarled.

“So you admit that I’m right then?” Izanami narrowed her eyes.

“I- well… ugh, fine! I am, are you happy?” Azula cried.

“I am,” Izanami nodded, satisfied that she had gotten through to Azula faster than she thought she would.

Azula’s eyes suddenly darkened, and Izanami started to think that she’d spoken too soon, “You really don’t know how hard it has been for me, Izanami. You might think that you’ve had it tough with your little family drama but you don’t know what struggling is!”

“Then tell me how tough you’ve had it. Tell me what the past three years of your life have been like. Let me understand where you’re coming from,” Izanami pleaded.

“Like you would understand,” Azula growled. “You wouldn’t know what it’s like to constantly have people betraying you because you’re just so perfect and it would never happen to you.”

“You think I don’t know what it’s like to feel betrayed? Well, I do! I was betrayed by my own parents. They turned their back on me when they were supposed to love me unconditionally. They betrayed me by taking away my rights and forcing me to marry someone I didn’t want to. I know what betrayal feels like,” Izanami insisted.

“You’re parents were right to walk away from you because you were in the wrong! At least now you do know what betrayal feels like. But you haven’t experienced the kind of betrayal that I have time and time again,” Azula grumbled.

“This isn’t referring to _just_ me, right?” Izanami clarified. “This is about your little gang, right? Tell me what happened. I know that they had to have left you, but I want to know what happened.”

Azula shrugged, “They just got bored with me. Said that they weren’t going to be my followers unless I actually got them to do something worthwhile. After all I did for them, breaking them out of the mental institution and giving them what they wanted, they repaid me by abandoning me just like you and mother did!”

Izanami’s face softened, and she suddenly understood why it was so hard for Azula to listen to what she had to say. It should’ve been obvious, but Izanami had thought that it was because she didn’t know any better. The truth is, Azula was her own person and had her own mind to figure out what was right and wrong. The problem was that Azula had experienced so much hardship as a direct result of what was supposed to be the good in her life which left her with everything that was bad. It was hard for someone to see the light when they had so much darkness in their soul.

That only made Izanami feel even more guilty, because she was apart of that darkness. She was part of the pain that Azula constantly felt. In hindsight, Izanami really shouldn’t have been surprised that Azula would reject her attempts at reconciliation and go as far as she had. But it didn’t make Izanami regret what had happened. She still firmly believed that everything had happened for a reason.

“I think I understand now,” Izanami stated.

Azula glanced at her, “Understand what, exactly?”

“Why it’s so hard for you to understand my way of thinking. Why I had to do what I did. And why you don’t want any part of me,” Izanami replied.

“And why is that?” Azula narrowed her eyes.

“Because for so long, I was the only positive thing in your life. You had your mother, but she left you. Then you had me, and I left you. As twisted as it is, you had your little group of Fire Warriors who according to Zuko, made you better off than you were before. So to have the only good things in your life constantly taken away, I can see why it’s so easy for you to just focus on all the bad,” Izanami answered.

“It’s much too harder to think about the good when there isn’t any,” Azula admitted. “What’s is there that’s good about my life? About me?”

“The fact that you’re still standing strong and can still kick my butt even after everything you’ve had to go through. You’re a powerful person, Azula. You’re a strong person. That is good. It’s time that you used your power and strength for good instead of bad,” Izanami said.

“I don’t know how to do that,” Azula grumbled.

“Then I’ll teach you,” Izanami smiled.

“And what if I don’t want your help?” Azula crossed her arms.

“Then I’ve done all I can do,” Izanami shrugged.

“You really want to help me?” Azula murmured.

“Of course I do, Zula. We were friends at one point and I would like to have another chance at friendship with you. This time, a real one. One that isn’t clouded by uncertainty or manipulation. I want a real and genuine friendship that we never got to have,” Izanami said.

“I thought that it was real,” Azula mumbled.

“Azula, you were manipulating us in the entire duration of our friendship. I saw how you manipulated Mai and Ty Lee, and it wasn’t until after the betrayal that I realised the ways that you manipulated me. You kept me close and made sure that I thought I was valued so that I wouldn’t have the guts to betray you because I thought you wanted me around,” Izanami replied.

“I did value you. You were my only real friend,” Azula argued.

“But you didn’t show me that. Sure, you treated me differently than you treated Mai and Ty Lee, but how else was I supposed to think when you didn’t treat me like a real friend. You didn’t talk to me about things that friends are supposed to talk about. You didn’t even trust me enough when you sent a spy after me,” Izanami said.

“Well maybe I didn’t know how to be a friend. I wasn’t supposed to have friends. Father just wanted me to have important people in my life so that I could rely on them,” Azula admitted.

“Then I’ll teach you how to be a friend, Azula. This is our chance to be the friends that we never got to be,” Izanami insisted.

“Fine, if that’s what you want…” Azula trailed off. “Izana.”

“I’ve missed hearing that name,” Izanami smiled. Sure, she heard it from Ty Lee who was the only other person to call her Izana, but it wasn’t the same as having it from the one person who had given her that name. It wasn’t the same as it was coming from anyone else.

“You know my thoughts on the matter,” Azula said.

“I know, you thought that I didn’t deserve it. But I guess now that you’ve changed your mind since I’ve got the nickname privilege back,” Izanami grinned.

“Don’t make me regret giving it to you,” Azula growled.

“I won’t,” Izanami chuckled. “As much as I love Ty Lee, she wasn’t the one to give me that nickname. Nobody says it quite like you do.”

“Not even your boytoy?” Azula smirked.

“My boytoy?” Izanami blushed.

“Kei Lo’s brother. You and him, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” Azula teased.

“We have not kissed,” Izanami argued.

“But you want to,” Azula said.

“I’m not going to respond to that,” Izanami shook her head. “But what about you and Kei Lo, hm? You don’t seem to take joy in terrifying him anymore.”

Azula shrugged, “He doesn’t show his fear. There’s no point in terrifying someone if they don’t show it.”

“Sure, that’s why,” Izanami rolled her eyes.

They sat there in a few moments in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. Izanami almost couldn’t wipe the smile off her face, since this had been a moment that she had been wanting for years. Finally, Izanami could say that she’d had the talk she wanted to with Azula. This was what she had been wanting for so long.

“I’m sorry for burning you,” Azula suddenly apologised.

“It’s okay. It hurt, but I liked to think that you didn’t want to do it,” Izanami reassured her.

“I didn’t,” Azula admitted. “It wasn’t until I had took off that I was hit with the big truth that I didn’t want to hurt you despite the part of me that said I did. That was what made me come back.”

“I’m glad you did. I’ve missed you. I’ve been hanging out with boys for too long,” Izanami chuckled.

As much as Izanami loved the boys, she’d missed having a girl to hang out with. She hadn’t been with Mai and Ty Lee for months, and it was the same with Gen. Izanami was just glad to be able to have this conversation with Azula despite everything that they had been through.

But of course, the moment had to be ruined. And it wasn’t by them.

A loud explosion suddenly caught their attention, and they both looked at each other before instantly getting up and taking off in the direction of it. Normally, people ran away from explosions but these girls weren’t exactly normal. They needed to check on Raiden and Kei Lo, to see if they were alright, since the explosion had come from the direction that they were supposed to be in.

Sure enough, when they found the site where the boys were supposed to be, there was nothing but smoke in the air. Azula quickly bended away the smoke, and they were still left with nothing. Their campsite had been destroyed and everything was gone, including Raiden and Kei Lo. In the distance, the girls could see something taking off in the air. They could only assume that in whatever that was, were Raiden and Kei Lo.

They both quickly looked around in case any of the attackers had left anything or anyone behind. All that was left was a banner with a distorted Fire Nation insignia on it. But it wasn’t just any banner. As soon as Azula and Izanami saw what it was, they both looked at each other with realisation. They knew exactly what that symbol was for.

It was the symbol of the New Ozai Society.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun, dun, dunnnnnn! Told you guys things would be picking up again ;). And yay, Azula and Izanami have had a long awaited talk which would make one think that they have everything going fine with them. I’m not exactly sold on how I had the conversation happen, but it was one that needed to happen in this chapter so let me know what you think of it. But don’t for a minute think that this will all be smooth sailing for Azula and Izanami. They’ve got one last challenge to overcome together, at least in this story and it will test the true strength of whatever friendship they have once and for all.


	47. Risking it All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I am, back again with another chapter of this story. We can now count the amount of chapters left on one hand. I’ve missed writing this story so I’m going to miss writing it even more once it’s finished. I’m back from my break now so updates shall resume as normal.

When the shock of what just happened had passed, Azula and Izanami looked at each other, both of them wondering what they were supposed to do now. All they could do was stand there in shock, having no idea what to say or do to make the situation better. Just when Izanami thought that things were going in a positive direction, the universe threw a spanner in the mix to make things even more difficult. Of course it had to be too good to be true.

“What do we do now?” Izanami murmured.

“Isn’t it obvious, Izana? We find them,” Azula replied.

“But how? We don’t even know where they could be!” Izanami exclaimed, panic starting to set in.

“First we have to examine the area, to make sure that there isn’t anything that we’ve missed. Then if we find something that could point us in the right direction, we follow it,” Azula stated.

Not knowing what else to do, Izanami just nodded and followed Azula’s lead as they searched the area for any indication as to what happened. Based on the look of things, Raiden and Kei Lo had been ambushed before a fight broke out given the numerous scorch marks on the ground and the burns on the nearby trees. It was clear that both sides had given a good fight. If Azula and Izanami had been there, perhaps it wouldn’t have ended like it did for Raiden and Kei Lo.

“Izana, I think I found something,” Azula proclaimed.

“What?” Izanami wondered as she headed over to her.

“There’s a map with a location circled on it. It appears to be nearby,” Azula explained.

“But why would whoever attacked Raiden and Kei Lo leave it behind? It seems like a pretty foolish mistake to make,” Izanami commented.

“Perhaps that was their intention. Maybe they wanted to leave this somewhere we’d find it, think that we’d be foolish enough to follow these directions so that they can achieve whatever they wanted to achieve by apprehending us,” Azula theorised.

“I’m assuming that we’re going to pretend to be foolish enough to follow these directions,” Izanami said.

“Exactly. As much as this will probably lead us to a trap, it could at least give us an indication as to where Raiden and Kei Lo are and what exactly happened to them,” Azula proclaimed.

“I hope that they’re okay,” Izanami murmured.

“Don’t worry, Izanami. We’ll rescue your boyfriend,” Azula smirked.

“He’s _not_ my boyfriend,” Izanami stomped her foot down for emphasis.

Azula rolled her eyes, “Sure, he’s not.”

“I think I know why you want to save them,” Izanami smirked. “It’s because you want to be with Kei Lo.”

“Now is not the time for petty squabbling, Izana,” Azula snapped.

“Now you say that,” Izanami remarked.

Without continuing their ‘petty squabbling’ as Azula called it, she and Izanami headed off towards the direction specified on the map that they had found. As much as Izanami knew that it was most likely going to be a trap, she was willing to do whatever it took to find Raiden and Kei Lo. Part of Izanami felt like it was her fault that whatever had happened did happen because of her connection to them. That was why Izanami wanted to find them again so badly.

It certainly wasn’t because she had feelings for Raiden, that’s for sure.

~*•°•*~ 

Hours later, Azula and Izanami found themselves approaching the destination that was marked on the map. The nerves were building up inside of Izanami the closer they got, since she had no idea what would be there for them. She had a hunch, but Izanami was just hoping that she was wrong just like she was hoping that this was all a dream and that she would wake up to find everything the way that it should be, with her and Azula as friends again along with Raiden and Kei Lo by their side.

After their conversation from earlier, Izanami wasn’t sure where she stood with Azula. As much as Izanami liked to think that Azula was willing to give things another go, she wasn’t sure how far her commitment was. Was Azula just saying this to drag Izanami for a ride only to hurt her in the end? Could Izanami even trust what Azula was doing and saying? Was this all apart of some grand scheme of revenge that would ultimately lead to her demise? Izanami didn’t know, but she hoped that it wasn’t.

Little did Izanami know, Azula was wondering the same things herself. Azula had thought that after clearing the air with Izanami that they would at least be at a sense of normalcy, except Azula didn’t know exactly how Izanami felt towards her. It was hard to believe that Izanami was really willing to give her a second chance, especially after everything that they’ve gone through. Did Izanami really want a fresh start with her? How did Izanami expect things to turn after everything that’s happened? Or was this just some revenge ploy on Izanami’s part to get back at Azula for locking her in prison? Azula wished she knew the answers and that she knew how things would end, but she didn’t. And that scared her.

“I guess that’s it,” Azula stated as they neared the tunnel marked on the map.

“What do you think is going to happen when we get there?” Izanami wondered.

“We’ll either find Raiden and Kei Lo so that we can get them out or we’re about to waltz into a trap,” Azula replied.

“Are you really sure it’s wise to do this when we could be putting ourselves in danger and them into even more danger?” Izanami asked.

“Are you saying that we can’t handle ourselves, Izana?” Azula narrowed her eyes.

“Of course we can,” Izanami said. “I’m just wondering, what if?”

“Stop wondering about stuff that we can’t control and focus on what we can control which is what we’re doing now,” Azula snapped.

Trust Azula to be the realist in a situation like this. But that was something that Izanami needed. She needed Azula’s words like she needed Raiden’s and Kei Lo’s. All three of them gave her a different perspective and something else to think about, something that she wanted and needed in her life. Izanami almost felt a wave of déjà vu go over her, thinking back to all of the times that she and Azula had worked together in the past, whether it be to capture the Avatar or harass Zuko. She was just glad to have Azula back on her side and doing this with her.

They reached the entrance of the cave and it was so dark that they could barely see down it. It made Izanami nervous, since she had no idea what they were walking into. Chances were, it was probably a trap but it was a risk that they had to take if they were to get their friends back… Did Azula even consider them her friends like Izanami did? She’d worry about that later, since right now they needed to get them out of the mess that they had gotten into.

“What should we do?” Izanami asked.

Azula shrugged, “We go down.”

Before Izanami could say anything else, Azula had jumped into the cave leaving her behind. Not wanting to be left on her own, Izanami followed Azula down before she quickly realised that it was like some sort of tunnel. Izanami slid down it at a rapid speed, almost immediately regretting going down it in the first place. They came out the end of it landing in a tangled heap, even more confused of where they were than they were before.

“This isn’t exactly what I was expecting,” Azula murmured as they got up.

Instead of being surrounded by Ozai supremacists like they had anticipated, they were simply in a dark cave that was only lit by the fire on the walls. Having no idea where they were, all Azula and Izanami could do was follow the path of flames in the hopes of finding something good at the end of it.

“Are you really sure that this is the best of ideas?” Izanami whispered as they walked carefully down the cave.

“Yes, now shut up,” Azula hissed.

Since getting caught wasn’t an option, Izanami simply stuck behind Azula as she allowed the other girl to lead the way. Azula had far more experience in situations like this, so Izanami was perfectly fine with letting her take the lead. At least this way if they ran into trouble, Azula would hopefully be there to help her.

The dimly lit corridor led them to a steel metal door. At first Izanami had no idea how they were going to get past it, but then Azula simply pushed her aside and used her firebending to melt the door. Izanami was somewhat embarrassed that she hadn’t thought of doing that, but she followed Azula inside regardless. Everything inside was dark, there was no light anywhere. Izanami got the feeling that they weren’t alone but she was almost too afraid to see if that was the case.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Izanami mumbled.

“I would have to agree with you, Izana,” Azula murmured.

Sure enough, nothing turned out right where they ended up. Within seconds Azula and Izanami found themselves ambushed in the dark. All they had to use for light was firebending, so they did that as much as they could to defend themselves. They clearly got in a few hits, but it wasn’t long before Izanami was taken down leaving Azula to fend for herself.

“Izana, are you alright?” Azula asked.

“No, I’m –“ Izanami tried saying before she was struck down on the head. Without Azula to back her up, Izanami was quickly taken away, leaving Azula to fend for herself which she certainly had no problem with.

“Whoever this is, show yourself! You don’t know who you’re dealing with!” Azula demanded.

The room was quickly illuminated by light, almost blinding Azula as she tried looking around to see what her surroundings were. At first, all she could see was just this blinding light until her vision became clearer. Izanami was nowhere to be seen, but what was to be seen were the dozens of New Ozai Society members standing around her. At the front of them was someone who Azula never would’ve thought that she’d see again. It was someone who she never even thought she could see again.

It was Ozai, staring at his daughter with a sick and sinister smirk.

~*•°•*~ 

Dumped in another room in the maze of caves, Izanami groaned as she started to feel an ear-splitting headache form. The bang on the head that she received hadn’t knocked her completely unconscious, but it had left her feeling dizzy and delirious. Izanami’s vision was blurry, and she had no idea where she was or what was going around her. She hated feeling like that.

“Izanami, you’re okay. You’re with us,” came a familiar voice.

It took a few seconds for Izanami to register it as Raiden’s voice, and she managed to relax herself into where she was, but not completely given what else was going on. Izanami knew that she had been dragged away from Azula, who was left by herself to deal with whoever had come to face her.

“W-what happened t-to you?” Izanami stammered.

“We were ambushed when Kei Lo returned. They took us completely by surprise and we barely had any time to defend ourselves before they knocked us out. When we woke up, we were here,” Raiden explained.

“Oh,” Izanami murmured, wincing as she felt another sting of pain. She was starting to think that it would’ve been better if they had just knocked her out completely, since then she wouldn’t have had to deal with this pain.

“Where’s Azula?” Kei Lo wondered.

“We c-came t-together to f-find you. We f-found a r-room and went in-inside. We were a-ambushed b-before I was kn-knocked down,” Izanami explained weakly.

“This is bad. Really, really bad,” Raiden muttered.

“Why?” Izanami grumbled.

“Because Ozai is here. He’s behind this whole thing,” Raiden said.

Izanami’s eyes widened, “What? How? He’s supposed to be in prison!”

“That’s what we don’t understand either,” Raiden scratched his head. “But he’s somehow managed to get out without people noticing that he is gone. He came in here earlier demanding answers as to what we were doing with his daughter and how we had brainwashed her. Kei Lo then said he was a pathetic excuse of a Fire Lord and that he should just give up, but Ozai didn’t take to that too kindly and burned him for it.”

Beside her, Izanami could see that Kei Lo was nursing an obvious burn on his right arm. Part of Izanami felt guilty for this, since Kei Lo had been hurt more in the time that he’d known her than anyone else. If anyone deserved to feel that pain, it was her.

“I’m sorry,” Izanami apologised.

“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have said anything to rile him up, which I did by saying what I did. It’s my own fault,” Kei Lo replied.

“Now we’re stuck in here and who knows what that sicko is going to do to Azula,” Raiden muttered.

“This could be very bad then. If Ozai is with Azula, there is no doubt that he’s going to try and get her onto his side. As much as I’d like to say that Azula would stand by us, I really don’t know. She’s always been desperate to please her father and now is her chance to redeem herself in his eyes,” Izanami groaned.

Things just seemed to be going from bad to worse and Izanami found herself wishing that it was a few weeks ago when Azula was still ignoring her and refusing to see her side. Because now if Azula was to betray her for her father, it would hurt more than anything. Izanami just hoped that for once in her life, Azula would be able to see through her father’s manipulations.

~*•°•*~ 

For years now, Azula had become numb towards her father. It wasn’t that she hated him or loved him, Azula just didn’t feel anything towards him anymore. She found it hard to look at her father with the same admiration that she used to after everything that he had put her and even her family through. Still, there was that part of Azula that wanted to please her father, and she knew what would please him.

“How… how are you here?” Azula wondered, still struggling to grasp how her father was standing right in front of her when he was supposed to be in prison.

Ozai chuckled, “Shocked to see me, huh? Don’t worry, you’re not the only one who’s had that reaction to my presence. My followers couldn’t believe it, and you should’ve seen the look on those pathetic boys faces.”

“Where are they?” Azula asked, knowing who he was referring to.

“There is no need for you to worry about them, Azula. They are just fine as they are, and should be even better with the company of that girl of yours. But you shouldn’t be worrying about them at all. They don’t deserve your concern or your loyalty,” Ozai replied.

“And you do?” Azula narrowed her eyes.

“Of course I do, Azula. I am your father. I raised you into the prodigy that you became. Everything that you are is because of me. Nothing your wretched mother, your pathetic brother or that foolish friend of yours has contributed as much as I have,” Ozai answered.

“But I thought I was a disappointment to you because I failed your mission. I let your legacy down,” Azula murmured. She would’ve thought that her father would’ve been furious at her for failing the New Ozai Society, yet he was willing to welcome her back with open arms which was surprising.

“You were at least trying, my dear,” Ozai said. “Unlike that oaf of a brother you have, you have always been loyal to me and you should know that loyalty is more important than anything. I cannot blame you for failing when you were relying on the competence of others who let you down.”

Azula didn’t know why, but for some reason it bothered her how Ozai referred to Zuko as an oaf of a brother. She knew that Ozai had said far worse things to Zuko, like the fact that she was born lucky and that he was lucky to be born. Part of the reason why Azula had given her brother such a hard time was because it was what her father did and she was supposed to follow after him. In this scenario, Azula knew that she would be expected to follower after her father. If anyone else could see this happening, they would without a doubt be assuming that Azula would go back to her father.

Only Azula didn’t know what she wanted to do. Had this happened years ago, she would’ve easily jumped at the thought of being accepted by her father again and standing by his side. Now, Azula didn’t know what she wanted to do. Azula knew that Izanami would want her to stick it to her father, but Azula wasn’t sure if she could. Her father was right, he had made her into the prodigy that she was. Azula owed most of her life’s accomplishments to him.

At the same time, her father had lead her down a path of self-destruction and insanity without even a care of her well-being. Fathers were supposed to show care for their children, right? Except Ozai only ever showed an ounce of care when she did something right or did what he wanted. Going against her father would certainly not be something that he’d want, but Azula didn’t know if she could do that even if she wanted to.

It seemed like Azula had reached her crossroads of destiny, only she had no idea what path she was supposed to take.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Ozai’s back in the picture which could certainly prove to be problematic for this newfound reconciliation that Azula and Izanami had. More about Ozai’s appearance will be explained towards the end, but for now I’ll let you guys speculate on what you think will happen and how it will all end, since this story is reaching it’s conclusion.


	48. Swept Under the Rug

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really running out of funny ways to introduce each chapter so I guess it’s a good thing that this story is coming to an end, that and I’m back at school again so it helps to have one less story to worry about. You could consider this chapter to be the climax, with the next one being the aftermath followed by the epilogue.

With a sigh, Izanami slid down against the wall that she was leaning on and landed with a loud thud. It had been a few days since they had gotten themselves into this mess, and it didn’t look like it would be getting fixed anytime soon. All Izanami wanted was for this to be done and over with so that she could know the outcome, because waiting for whatever to happen wasn’t fun at all. It was agonising waiting to see what would happen with Azula, especially with Ozai on the case.

Looking at Raiden and Kei Lo, Izanami could see that they were also worried, whether it be about her own concerns or something else. It was hard to not sit here and worry about what could possibly be happening or what was going to happen. There was no doubt in Izanami’s mind that Ozai would be trying to poison Azula’s mind with twisted thoughts, and she could only hope that Azula would be strong enough to withstand her father’s manipulative ways.

“You worried about Azula too?” Kei Lo asked Izanami as they sat in silence.

“Yeah,” Izanami sighed. “I just know that Ozai will be trying to work his magic on her so that he can twist her back onto his side. Just when things were starting to look up for us…”

“Hopefully it won’t come to that. Ozai is one of the highest security prisoners in the Fire Nation. Maybe they’ll realise that he’s gone and come looking for him,” Raiden suggested.

“But we hadn’t even heard anything about Ozai escaping from prison. The chances are that somehow, nobody knows that he’s out here so we’ll probably be stuck like this for however long it takes for something to happen,” Izanami grumbled.

“We just have to have confidence that Azula will make the right decision, not just for us but for her as well,” Kei Lo said.

“In case you haven’t noticed because you’re freakishly attracted to her, Azula hasn’t exactly had the greatest track record when it comes to making the right choices,” Izanami snapped.

“Now lets not get into any fights with each other because that’s probably what Ozai wants to happen. Causing distrust amongst us will only make it easier for Azula to switch sides,” Raiden stated.

“I’m not ‘freakishly attracted’ to Azula. I just think that you should have a little more faith in Azula because you’re not showing much. Sure, she might’ve fallen for her fathers traps in the past, but she’s a different person now,” Kei Lo argued.

“That’s easy for you to say, you’ve never seen her like she was before!” Izanami exclaimed.

“That was before, this is now, Izanami,” Kei Lo insisted.

“You sure have a lot of things to say about Azula and my own thoughts on her when she’s _my_ best friend,” Izanami remarked.

“I’d hardly consider you guys best friends now,” Kei Lo muttered.

“Alright, let’s not argue like this amongst ourselves anymore. It’s not doing us any favours and we have more important things to worry about, like how to get out of here,” Raiden spoke up.

“Chances are, we’re stuck here forever cause I doubt Ozai would put us anywhere we could escape,” Izanami mumbled.

“Don’t be such a pessimist,” Kei Lo commented.

“That’s easy for you to say. You were the one who said that Azula was a deranged psychopath with no chance of saving!” Izanami exclaimed.

“I said no such thing!” Kei Lo argued.

“Alright, but you might as well have said it with the way that you talked about her at first! You have no right to talk about Azula as if you know her because you don’t. None of you know her like I do,” Izanami proclaimed.

“And we never will know Azula again if we don’t get out of this mess. Now lets pull our heads together so we can come up with a solution,” Raiden said.

“There is no solution. We’re stuck here until Ozai decides to toy with us for a bit,” Izanami muttered.

“That’s not true,” Raiden reassured her as he squeezed her shoulder comfortingly.

“Yes it is. We’re not going to get out of here until Ozai lets us out, and we won’t exactly be free then,” Izanami said.

Raiden sighed, “Let’s just keep calm then and prepare ourselves for when that happens.”

Having no idea what was going on between Azula and Ozai was driving Izanami made. If only she could be a fly on the wall as they had their conversation which would undoubtedly be about Azula coming back to him. As much as she didn’t want to agree with him right now, Izanami could only hope that Kei Lo was right and that Azula wouldn’t allow herself to be so easily swayed by her fathers charm like she had been in the past. Otherwise, things were about to get even more difficult for them

~*•°•*~ 

Seeing her father again was almost unbelievable for Azula. It was hard to believe that after all these years, she was with her father again. The last time that she had seen him was when Zuko had allowed her to visit him for information on Ursa. Back then, Azula had certainly been in a different frame of mind compared to how she was now. Most notably, Azula would like to think that she wasn’t as… insane as she was the last time. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, just like she wasn’t sure if it was good to be in her father’s presence again.

During her childhood, Azula had always loved being by her fathers side as she resented her mothers closeness with Zuko. Watching how her mother doted on poor little Zuzu enraged Azula, since her mother had never given her that kind of attention. But her father certainly had, and more. He had praised Azula for everything that she did, and Azula couldn’t deny the pride that she felt whenever her father would praise her, no matter what it was for. Only now, Azula felt uncomfortable in her fathers presence. She assumed that it was because it had been so long since she last was and that she had changed since then, something that she knew her father had recognised.

“You seem different from the last time I saw you, Azula,” Ozai stated.

“Different how?” Azula asked.

“Something just feels… missing about you. I can tell that you still have your power and that it has only been nourished and has grown into something unique. Your energy doesn’t feel the same that it used to,” Ozai observed.

“And how did it used to feel?” Azula wondered. She wouldn’t have expected her father to be the type to pay attention to how your energy felt. She always thought that was Ty Lee’s thing.

“It’s hard to explain, but you feel more at ease and controlled. I could tell the last time that we saw each other that you weren’t exactly doing a good job of keeping yourself together. Now it seems like you’ve managed to get that sorted,” Ozai replied.

“Yes, I’ve got Izanami to thank for that,” Azula said, wondering how her father would react to Izanami being brought up.

Ozai laughed, “Ha, that foolish girl? Like she could ever tame you. It would take someone with great patience and consideration to take care of you, my daughter. Qualities that I happen to possess.”

“Izanami has been encouraging me to be more patient when it comes to dealing with imbeciles. It has helped, since I have managed to put up with those two followers of hers,” Azula said.

“Ah, yes. My followers told me that they were fairly easy to deal with. But that small and hideous brat had the nerve to insult me!” Ozai snarled.

Azula had to hide the smirk that wanted to come out when she realised that her father was referring to Kei Lo. He had certainly surprised her with how he could be, and Azula wasn’t exactly sure how she was supposed to think of that.

“He certainly is something,” Azula mumbled. “Izanami certainly has them wrapped around her fingers. I suppose that’s something of mine that has rubbed off on her.”

“That’s certainly not good, Azula. You cannot have that girl mimicking your behaviour and stealing your tactics. She will end up using them against you like she already has,” Ozai said.

“I doubt that Izanami is capable of such deception. Yes, she betrayed me but it’s not like she lied to me,” Azula replied.

“She still committed treason! We really shouldn’t have been surprised, considering her family is full of traitors, like that Akira and that foolish brother of hers,” Ozai growled.

“Father, you seem to care more about this than I do. I have learned to let that go because it was doing me no favours by being resentful towards Izanami about something that has happened in the past. I have found myself to feel a lot more better because of it, and I know that Izanami is glad for that,” Azula said.

“Azula, my dear, Izanami does not care about you. She left you for two years and didn’t even visit you while you were locked up, you told me yourself. What kind of friend doesn’t visit their old friend when they need them the most?” Ozai probed.

“To be fair, I did lock her up,” Azula remarked before she realised something. “Wait a minute, how do you know that I went two years without seeing Izanami? It had only been one year by the time that I had seen you.”

“Let’s just say that I’ve had people keeping watch of you like a real father should. My sources told me how you handled the girl when she challenged you. I would’ve expected a lot more brutality from you, Azula,” Ozai answered.

“You’ve been spying on me?” Azula growled.

“I wouldn’t call it spying, I would call it looking out for you. That should give you enough reason to want to be with me, my daughter. I have looked out for you more than anyone ever has, even more than your own mother,” Ozai said.

“So tell me then, _father_ , how is it that you escaped? If I am to trust you, then you are to tell me your secrets,” Azula ordered.

“As I’m sure you would expect, all of my visitors were monitored, so I always had one of my society members come and fill me in once every few months. With each progressing visit, I devised a plan with them. I figured that as long as they saw my face every day, they would have no reason to doubt me being there. So, I had one of my servants craft an exact replica of my likeness and wear it so we could swap positions. It was almost too easy, really,” Ozai explained.

“Don’t you think that they will notice that it is merely someone wearing a replica of your face?” Izanami wondered, seeing several flaws in her father’s plan.

Ozai scoffed, “Please, with the way that treacherous brother of yours is running things over there, it’ll be too late by the time they realise that it is not me in their capture. We will have already made our move and march of civilisation.”

“Zuzu’s had the crown for almost five years now, father. Wasn’t that the same amount of time that you had it for before the Avatar defeated you?” Azula pointed out.

Ozai glared at her, “How _dare_ you talk to me like that! I am your father, the same father who made you into who you are. You have no right to degrade me like that. If you are to stand by my side, you are to have unwavering loyalty to me, Azula. That means you shall not besmirch my name like that ever again!”

“Sorry,” Azula apologised, although she found herself barely meaning any of it.

It was clear that Ozai hadn’t been pleased at all with her snarky remarks based on the look that he had given her. That was a look that for so long had only been reserved for Zuko and a look that Azula never thought she’d be on the receiving end of. The look of disappointment which her father had made clear with his words, the same words that were now echoing in the back of her mind.

_I am your father, the same father who made you into who you are._

There was no denying that Azula owed a lot of her life to her father. If it hadn’t been for him, she wouldn’t have grown up as privileged and successful as she did. Without Ozai, Azula would’ve ended up as soft and pathetic as he claimed her mother and brother to be. Yet just like everything else in the world, there was some serious irony around them. If her mother and brother truly were unworthy while she and her father were deserving of their success, then why weren’t things the other way around?

~*•°•*~ 

After losing count of how long they had been locked in wherever they were, Izanami had decided that enough was enough. She wasn’t going to just sit here and do nothing while Ozai was cooking up some disastrous plot and poisoning Azula’s mind. There was no point in sitting around waiting for something to happen when they could do something about it themselves.

“Alright, that’s it. We’ve got to do something about this,” Izanami declared.

“How do you propose we get out of this? These walls concealing us are far too strong to succumb to firebending and lightning generation could only kill us even faster,” Raiden said.

“Then we’ll have to think of something. I refuse to sit in her and do nothing when I could be doing something out there to stop this mess,” Izanami argued.

“The lock!” Kei Lo suddenly exclaimed.

“What lock?” Izanami wondered.

“The lock on the outside. You can see base don how the door is that there is a lock on the other side. If we could get some kind of string small enough to get through the gap and a small but malleable object to pick the lock, we might be able to get it undone,” Kei Lo explained.

“That’s a pretty big _if_ Kei Lo,” Izanami commented, seeing several flaws in his plan.

“Can you think of anything better than that?” Kei Lo challenged.

Izanami sighed as she took out the pin that was holding her top together, “Here, you can use this to pick the locks.”

“And this to tie onto it,” Raiden added as he took out the string on his shoes.

“We’ll be out of here in no time,” Kei Lo declared as he began working his magic.

As much as Izanami wanted Kei Lo’s plan to work, she was very apprehensive about it being a success. It was going to take Kei Lo time to get the locks undone, and they’d have to count on nobody actually being out there to see it happening. Then they’d have to find Azula and hope that her mind hadn’t been corrupted and that she was still willing to see things their way.

Thinking about what Azula might do made Izanami nervous. If there was one thing that Izanami knew about the other girl, it was that she lived to please her father. Azula would’ve done anything to make him proud, and standing by his side once again would certainly be enough to make him proud. Izanami had to believe that Azula would realise that there was more to life than making her father proud and that he really didn’t care about her at all. But Azula had been charmed by her father in the past, so Izanami was still holding her breath.

To her complete surprise, minutes had passed and Kei Lo was still working on the locks without being interrupted. Izanami had fully expected someone to be on the other side of the door to guard them. Either this was some kind of plot to let them slip into a false sense of security, or there was some other trap waiting for them on the other side. Regardless of what it was, Izanami waited with anticipation until she heard a loud click and Kei Lo’s cheer of celebration after what felt like an eternity of him being there.

“I did it! It might’ve took me almost an hour but I did it!” Kei Lo exclaimed.

“Now lets get out of here,” Izanami proclaimed.

They did just that and worked together to pull the door open. It had to be a group effort, since there wasn’t that much room for one person to do it themselves. After making sure that the coast was clear, they made a run for it, hardly believing that what they had just done had worked until they came face to face with yet another metal door.

“I knew it was too easy,” Izanami muttered.

“At least this door seems like it would be easy to knock down with some lightning,” Raiden said.

“Good point,” Izanami nodded. “Now stand back.”

The boys didn’t need to be told twice as they gave Izanami the space she needed before she quickly generated some lightning around her. Izanami hadn’t gone out of control or went for anything huge, she just wanted enough to be able to blast a hole through the door that was keeping them trapped.

In one swift motion, Izanami blasted her lightning through the wall which had given them the access that they needed to get out. Only when they got out, they were quickly greeted by a swarm of New Ozai Society members, all of whom were ready to attack.

“You really shouldn’t have left us, Kei Lo. Then your fate wouldn’t be like this,” one of them sneered.

“I’m glad I made the choice to leave this pathetic society! You’ll be the ones who are sorry about your fate,” Kei Lo declared.

An all out brawl quickly erupted, with the New Ozai Society having a clear numbers advantage. They clearly weren’t going to be giving them any mercy, so as much as Izanami hated being so malicious, she knew what she was going to have to do the same if they were to get out of this mess in one piece.

Weapons were fired and people were burned as chaos was unleashed. This was just flat out craziness for Izanami and she was finding it difficult to keep up with. The entire time, Izanami would spare a few worried glances to where Raiden and Kei Lo were to see if they were okay. When they needed backup, she was there to give it to them just like they were with her. The only thing missing from this battle was Azula on their side, even if Izanami didn’t know where the other girl now stood with her.

“Enough!” a loud voice bellowed.

The fighting stopped and a thick silence filled the air. Izanami was almost too afraid to look up to see who it was, since she knew exactly who it was. After seconds of silence, Izanami slowly turned her head to see Ozai standing above them all with Azula in his shadow. The first thing that Izanami did was look to see what the expression on Azula’s face was, but like most of the time, it was unreadable.

“Well, I suppose you have learned something from my daughter after all, Izanami if you were able to escape like that,” Ozai commented.

“Actually, it was all Kei Lo. Pretty smart for a non-bender,” Izanami remarked, and she liked to think that she saw a smirk on Azula’s face.

“How pathetic then. Your parents would be so ashamed of you, Izanami after everything they did for you. They would have every right to be ashamed of you after your actions that mimic those of your equally treacherous brother,” Ozai said.

“Just because my brother fell in love with an Earth Kingdom woman doesn’t make him a traitor. He was still loyal to his country until his last breath,” Izanami proclaimed.

“Ah, so you know about your brothers… activities. But you clearly don’t know the full story. He did more than sleep with a dirt girl,” Ozai smirked.

“W-what are you talking about?” Izanami stammered.

“Father, don’t,” Azula hissed, knowing what her father was about to say and wishing that there was a way for her to keep his mouth shut.

“You can’t tell me what to do, Azula. And besides, why wouldn’t you want her to know the harsh truth that would destroy her after what she did to you? Her actions shattered your perception of her so it’s only fair that we shatter her perception of her brother,” Ozai declared.

“Would someone please fill in the blanks for me!” Izanami demanded.

“Since you asked so nicely,” Ozai drawled. “Your brother truly was a fine young man when I first met him. He had a promising future in the Fire Nation military had he stayed on the path that he started on. In the first few years of his deployment, he was kept with the other young soldiers and away from any contact with those Earth Kingdom peasants. Then your brother was moved into the domestic forces which gave him more room to travel.”

“Izanami, are you sure that you want to hear this? It doesn’t sound any good,” Raiden whispered.

“Yes, now shut up,” Izanami hissed.

“As the Fire Lord, I expected continuous updates on how my men were performing in action. One progress report in particular caught my eye, since it mentioned your brother. He was apparently not the same as the rest of his men anymore. His commanding officer noticed how he had become withdrawn and had started disappearing at the oddest times and reappearing as such. Naturally, I sent some spies after him to see what he was up to and if he was still worthy of being in our army,” Ozai explained.

“And you discovered that he was sleeping with an Earth Kingdom woman,” Izanami interjected.

“Sleeping with that dirt girl was the least of his treachery!” Ozai exclaimed. “It was found that your brother was working in a complete conspiracy theory against the Fire Nation. He was _helping_ those blasted peasants. He had betrayed his nation in the worst way possible! Your brother did not deserve to be in the Fire Nation army anymore after his actions. Unfortunately for him, fate seemed to agree.”

In that moment, Izanami’s world stopped spinning as she let Ozai’s words sink in. At first she had refused to believe them, since treachery didn’t seem like something Kazu would commit. But Izanami had to look at the bigger picture. He had been involved with an Earth Kingdom woman. And most of all, Izanami remembered the dream. The dream from years ago when she had been captured with Gen and Niko where her brother had appeared before her.

At the time, Kazu’s ramblings had made no sense to Izanami and she honestly hadn’t spared them a thought in years. But his words were now echoing in her ears as though she had heard them moments ago and they were now clear as day.

_There are certain things that have been swept under the rug and you don’t even realise it._

A million questions suddenly flooded through Izanami’s mind. Is this what he was referring to? Was what had been swept under the rug really that Kazu had committed treason? Had Kazu meant that the circumstances surrounding his death were what had been swept under the rug? Did that meant that Kazu’s death _wasn’t_ an accident? Izanami hated to think that was the case, but based on the way that Ozai had said that last sentence, she was beginning to think that it was the truth.

Staring at Ozai, Izanami couldn’t help but notice how Azula was just standing there with nothing to say. Based on the way that Azula had tried to hush her father up, Izanami was also beginning to suspect that Azula had known that all along. Now her ramblings about her treacherous brother at night when Izanami had pretended to be asleep were starting to make sense.

“You… you knew?” Izanami stated, glancing at Azula. There were so many emotions bubbling inside of Izanami after Ozai’s revelation, emotions that were fighting to come out over each other.

Azula sighed, “Yes, I knew. I didn’t say anything because father told me not to.”

“And you were right to obey my orders, Azula. Especially since you had no right to know that information in the first place,” Ozai said.

“How could you not tell me? How could you keep that kind of information from me when you _knew_ how much my brother meant to me? And don’t even say that it’s because you were scared of your father. The way that you’ve acted the past few months shows that you don’t give a damn about what he thinks of you!” Izanami yelled.

Everyone stood in silence as Izanami continued to rant. Both Raiden and Kei Lo were now looking at each other with concern, since they had never seen this from Izanami before. With the way she was talking, it was only a matter of time before she said something she couldn’t take back and would soon come back to haunt them.

“It’s like you don’t even know who you are! I don’t even know who you are! You’re just a weak and spineless fool who doesn’t even have the courage to stand up for what she believes in! How can you even say that you were my friend back then when you kept that from me? You were never my friend and you most certainly aren’t my friend now!” Izanami shouted.

A thick silence filled the air after Izanami’s burst of outrage. Raiden and Kei Lo stared at each other in shock, hardly believing that Izanami had reacted in such a way. They had never heard her yell with such anger and betrayal. Their attention turned to Azula who still remained behind Ozai, her expression unreadably. They had no idea what was going to happen next after these stunning revelations.

Beside Azula, Ozai smirked to himself as his plan came into fruition. This was what he had been waiting for. He had been waiting for Izanami and her misfits to break free so that this confrontation could take place. All along, Ozai knew that he was going to reveal what he had just said. There had been a laps of hesitation, since he had no idea how Izanami would react to the fact that Azula had known the reason behind her brothers fate. Her reaction had been exactly what Ozai was hoping for, since he had hoped that such words of hatred would be enough to secure his loyalty with Azula.

In the crowd, Ozai watched as his chosen disciple readied his weapon. This was going to be the final act of this grand display and Ozai was just waiting to give him the signal. Just as Ozai raised his hand, a loud explosion was heard and once again, all hell broke loose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You gotta love cliff-hangers like these, huh? Aren’t they just the best? No, oh well. If you’re waiting on the edge of your seat already, then you’ll have to REVIEW and I might just post the next chapter sooner rather than later. There’s still one last bit of action to happen before the epilogue wraps everything up, which I know is hard to believe considering what was revealed this chapter. The title from this chapter actually came from that sentence said by Kazu, since I felt like it was appropriate given what happened.


	49. Getting Closure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is guys, the second to last chapter before the epilogue. This chapter basically concludes Azula and Izanami’s turbulent journey before the epilogue tells you guys how their lives turned out. This chapter obviously takes place after the last one, but after the last conflict took place.

A throbbing pain in her head overwhelmed Izanami as she started to come through. Everything was all blurry and she felt like she’d been hit by a tank. At first, Izanami could barely remember what had happened until it all quite literally hit her at once. The capture. Ozai. Azula’s betrayal. Anger immediately came over Izanami as she remembered what Azula had hid from her, but that feeling of anger was soon replaced with regret as Izanami remembered what she had said to the other girl. Any chances of Azula seeing her side of things had been blown away after Izanami said what she did.

There were so many conflicting feelings going on inside of Izanami. She wasn’t sure how she even felt towards Azula anymore after the revelations from earlier. As much as Izanami didn’t want to be angry at Azula, she couldn’t help but feel betrayed by the fact that she had kept that information from her, knowing how important Izanami’s brother was to her. Izanami just didn’t want t have to go through this trouble on her own, which was why she was glad to see Raiden sitting beside her.

“R-Raiden,” Izanami stammered.

He smiled weakly at her, “Hey, Izanami.”

“Ugh, my head hurts,” Izanami murmured weakly.

“I can see why, since you took a hard hit to the head,” Raiden commented.

“Raiden, your chest,” Izanami gasped upon seeing that his upper body was wrapped in bandages.

“Oh, this is nothing. Don’t worry about it, I’m fine,” Raiden tried reassuring her.

“But t-the trap! We were s-surrounded!” Izanami exclaimed.

“Everything turned out fine. It turned out that Ozai hadn’t really done a great job of covering his tracks since just as you were knocked out, the Avatar and Fire Lord Zuko showed up to take him down. With their help, we got everything sorted,” Raiden explained.

“Fire Lord _Zuko_?” Izanami repeated.

“Yeah, we were surprised too but we had bigger things to worry about at that moment, like taking out that wack job,” Raiden said.

“What a-about Azula?” Izanami asked, almost fearing the answer.

At that question, Raiden was silence which only filled Izanami with even more dread. Despite the betrayal, Izanami still hoped that Azula had seen through her father’s manipulations because it was a result of her fathers manipulations that she hadn’t told Izanami about her brother.

“Raiden, I know that something happened and that you’re not telling me it,” Izanami stated.

“She felt bad about it, you know,” Raiden spoke up.

“Huh?” Izanami narrowed her eyes.

“About not telling you, and letting you get hit when she saw it coming. I guess it took its toll on her because she kind of had a mental breakdown. Of course, that was after she told her father where to shove it. You would’ve been proud of her,” Raiden replied.

“Why don’t you just tell me everything that happened after I got knocked out?” Izanami suggested, still very confused at everything that was going on.

“Yeah, that would probably be the best idea,” Raiden agreed. “Okay, so everything happened like this…”

_Chaos had erupted after before Izanami had even taken a blow to the head, but as soon as it started, that was when it happened. Ozai had given his disciple the signal to make the move against Izanami and she was easily knocked down, hard. Just as Izanami hit the ground, two figures emerged from the corner and revealed themselves for everyone to see._

_“Surender yourself, Ozai. We’ve got you now,” one of them declared._

_Ozai cackled, “Ha! You still are a foolish Avatar, boy. Just like my son is a foolish imbecile for standing by you and taking the throne when he knows it doesn’t belong to him.”_

_“The throne is my destiny, father. Just like helping the Avatar restore balance by taking you down was apart of my destiny,” Zuko proclaimed._

_“Oh, how precious,” Ozai drawled. “You’ve clearly done a spectacular job at keeping things running smoothly in our nation since I was able to escape so easily!”_

_“I’ve had the throne for almost the exact same amount of time that you had it and I’ve done more for our nation than you could ever dream of,” Zuko argued._

_“That throne was never supposed to be yours! You might have been my firstborn but you never proved yourself worthy of having the crown on your head,” Ozai snarled before turning to Azula. “Just like I took the throne from my pathetic brother, you were destined to take it from yours. That’s why I gave you the title of Fire Lord on the day of Sozin’s Comet, because it was supposed to be yours.”_

_“Azula,” Zuko acknowledged his sister, only just realising that she was by their fathers side. If anything, he really shouldn’t have been surprised that she was here. Of course she’d be apart of her father’s evil scheme somehow._

_“Get rid of the traitor and the boy! We’ll deal with the spares later!” Ozai ordered._

_Obeying Ozai’s orders, his men lunched an attack on the Avatar and Fire Lord Zuko. This was true chaos at its finest as weapons were flung around the room and fire raged around. A loud cry of pain could be heard and Azula knew that it had come from Raiden, especially when she saw him hunched down in pain._

_“What do you say we get in on the action, hm Azula? You can redeem yourself by putting that pathetic brother of yours in his place,” Ozai suggested._

_In that moment, Azula knew that this was her defining moment. She knew now that this was where she was supposed to make her final choice on whether she’d side with her father or not. Everything stopped for the firebender and nobody else in the room mattered but her and her father. This was it. This was decision time._

_Could she really do this? Could Azula actually stand by her fathers side in good conscience? Before this would’ve been a no-brainer, since Azula didn’t even think that she had a conscience. But that part of her wasn’t something she could deny, especially when she felt the guilt about doing what she did to Izanami. Azula didn’t feel guilt about anything towards her father though, and she knew what decision she was supposed to make._

_“I think that…” Azula trailed off as she struggled to find her words. “You’re full of shit.”_

_“What did you just say?” Ozai growled._

_“You heard me, father. I think that you’re full of shit. Complete and utter crap,” Azula replied._

_“How dare you speak to me that way! After everything that I did for you, you have the nerve to speak to me like this?” Ozai seethed._

_“After everything I did for you, father, you had the nerve to just toss me aside when I was at my most vulnerable?” Azula remarked. “You knew that I wasn’t in my right frame of mind leading up to the comet. You knew that my sanity was hanging by a thread. And most of all, you knew that the title of Fire Lord was worthless after you declared yourself the Phoenix King which was basically the ruler of all Fire Nation lands. That title was no good for me, just like I was to you. Instead of letting me help you burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground, you just left me behind when the whole thing was my idea!”_

_“Azula, you’re certainly not in your right frame of mind now. I’m sure that this must all be overwhelming for you. If you’d just come with me, we can talk this over,” Ozai said._

_“No! I’m sick of being your puppet and your tool. That’s all I ever was to you! You never saw me as a daughter. I was just a means to an end for you. I thought you loved me, but you didn’t! All you ever did was manipulate me like you’re trying to do now! You might think that I owe you everything but I don’t! You sent me on a path to misery and never gave me a chance! I hate you and I don’t ever want to stand by your side again!” Azula yelled, her rage beginning to become uncontrollable._

_“You don’t mean that, Azula. You’re just confused. You’ve allowed that brat to poison your mind,” Ozai argued._

_“If anyone p-poisoned my mind, it was you! Everything bad that has h-happened to me is b-because of you and I hate it! I s-shouldn’t be like this. This is not how it’s s-supposed to be! I d-deserve better!” Azula stammered. By this point she was shaking and struggling to hold herself together. That much was clear for everyone to see._

_“You deserve what you get!” Ozai growled._

_“And so do you!” Azula roared._

_A look of complete and utter rage morphed onto Azula’s face and the former Fire Nation princess finally lost control. Out of anger, she thrusted her fists down, causing a burst of blue fire to erupt around everyone else. The impact of Azula’s fire caused the earth to rumble and the cave around them started to collapse. That was enough for everyone to make a break for it, even as Ozai ordered his men to stand their ground._

_“Make sure you get Ozai!” Zuko yelled to Aang._

_“I think Kei Lo already has that covered,” Aang called back as his gaze was on their old ally who jumped on the back of the former Fire Lord and tackled him to the ground._

_Looking above, Zuko could see that his sister was having another mental breakdown. He remembered seeing her like this on the day of Sozin’s Comet. Back then, Zuko had just stood there and watched. Only this time he knew that he couldn’t do that. Not after what his sister had just said._

_“W-wretched monster! He lied to me! He used me!” Azula seethed._

_“Azula…” Zuko trailed off._

_“You’re so lucky, Zuzu! Everyone loves you! You have all the friends and I have nothing! Nobody loves me. Father said he did but he never did. I was foolish to believe that he did. Izanami certainly doesn’t anymore. Nobody would want to love a monster like me,” Azula rasped._

_“That’s not true, Azula. You’ve just shown that you’re not a monster. You’re more than what you think you are. You’ve proven that,” Zuko insisted. “Now, why don’t you come with me and we can get this whole mess sorted out?”_

_“You don’t want that! You’re just going to lock me back up again!” Azula argued._

_Zuko grimaced, “No, I’m not going to lock you back up. I’m going to give you the freedom that I never should have stripped from you, if you’ll have it.”_

_“Y-you really want me back?” Azula stammered._

_“I do. And I don’t think that I’m the only one,” Zuko replied, glancing back at Izanami as she was helped up by Aang and Kei Lo._

_Azula scoffed, “I doubt Izanami wants anything to do with me. You should have heard what she said before you came bursting in, Zuzu.”_

_“Let’s just deal with the main problem at hand and then we’ll worry about that later. I think it’s time we take drastic measures with father,” Zuko suggested._

_Azula nodded, “I agree. But after that, I want nothing more to do with him again.”_

_“Then let’s handle this together,” Zuko said, putting an arm around Azula’s back that she didn’t move away._

_For the first time in a long time, the two siblings worked together to clean up the mess that their father had made. It was clear that there were still a lot of things that needed to be handled, but right now they had more important things to worry about._

“So that’s basically what happened,” Raiden finished telling the following events to Izanami.

“You’re saying that Azula actually went against her father?” Izanami asked in shock, unable to believe it.

“Yep. Ozai was pissed after we took him away, but they’re transferring him back to prison now on another blimp,” Raiden replied.

“Blimp?” Izanami repeated.

“Oh, yeah. I should’ve mentioned that we’re heading to the Fire Nation capital. It wasn’t really something we could avoid since we were apart of everything that went down,” Raiden explained.

“Oh,” Izanami murmured. “H-how is she?”

“Honestly, a bit of a mess. I tried talking to her sometime ago but she snapped a bit. I think she’s suffering a minor relapse after everything that’s happened. Kei Lo’s with her now and she surprisingly hasn’t torn him to shreds yet,” Raiden answered.

Izanami smiled weakly, “He does have a certain way with her. I want to see her though. I want to clear the air and set the record straight with Azula.”

“I thought you were furious with her. I’d never seen you so angry before,” Raiden said.

“I was angry, I really was. I still think I am angry, but I can’t hate her. We’ve been through too much together for me to hate her. And I know that had her father not been such a manipulative piece of shit, she would have told me about my brother without hesitation,” Izanami replied.

“Well, I’ll give you some time to rest and we’ll deal with everything later. Take care, Izanami,” Raiden squeezed her hand tightly before getting up to leave.

Left by herself, Izanami rested against the bed as she allowed her head to heal. It still hurt, and Izanami knew that it was going to take some time for things to be back to normal, and she didn’t just mean with her head.

After everything that had happened with Ozai, there was nothing that Izanami wanted to do more than to talk with Azula and settle things once and for all. She didn’t plan on yelling at Azula, she just wanted to talk. And they’d been learning to do a lot more of that lately, so hopefully when the time came they could talk about things without trouble.

~*•°•*~ 

Hours later, Izanami was still resting after waking up. She hadn’t yet seen anyone else until the door to her room opened and someone walked in. It wasn’t just someone, though. It was Azula.

“Azula,” Izanami addressed her.

“Raiden said that you wanted to speak with me. I wasn’t sure that you’d want to after… what you found out,” Azula said.

“That’s actually why I want to talk to you. I think that’s something we should talk about so that we can clear the air,” Izanami stated.

Azula nodded as she sat down, “That sounds nice.”

“I’m sorry for yelling at you like I did when it was revealed. That definitely wasn’t the time and place for that,” Izanami apologised.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Izana. I was the one who kept secrets from you when I knew how much you would’ve wanted to know what it was. You had every right to be angry at me,” Azula reassured her.

Izanami sighed, “I am still angry at you, Azula. It still hurts that you kept that from me. But I don’t want to waste anymore time being angry at you when we’ve already lost so much time together because of anger and bitterness.”

“So… you don’t hate me?” Azula clarified.

“I could never hate you, Az. Not after everything we’ve been through. I think had this happened before, I probably never would’ve wanted to see you again. But I’ve had that time away from you, and I don’t want that to happen again. I want you in my life, Azula,” Izanami said.

Azula shook her head, “I don’t think I will ever understand how you can forgive me so easily, after everything that I did to you from putting you in prison to keeping the information about your brother a secret. You deserved to know the truth and I was foolish by keeping it from you.”

“As much as it hurt that you did that, I can understand why you wouldn’t tell me. I think since the beginning of our friendship I knew that your loyalty was to your father first and foremost,” Izanami reasoned.

“But it should’ve been to you. You showed me more kindness and love than father ever did,” Azula murmured.

“And you can see that now. Before you couldn’t because of your fathers manipulations but now you are freer and wiser so that you can make your own decisions. I’m proud of you for doing that, Azula,” Izanami smiled.

“I guess you still have your questions though,” Azula grunted.

“Yeah, I do. How did you even find out about my brother?” Izanami wondered.

“I wanted to find out more about your family. And part of it came from the fact that I wondered if I could get you to see your brother again cause you know, you hadn’t seen him for a while. But the more I dug into him the more I found about what he was doing and that my father was keeping a close eye on him. When he found out that he knew, he forced me into keeping quiet. I almost did tell you about it, but I couldn’t disobey father. Not after what he did to Zuzu,” Azula explained.

“I understand, Zula. If I were you I wouldn’t want to go against your fathers orders either. And he probably would have done something horrible to you if you told me because I can guarantee that I wouldn’t have kept quiet about it,” Izanami said.

“I still should have told you when we saw each other again,” Azula muttered.

“You knew that Kazu had a family of his own too, didn’t you?” Izanami asked.

Azula nodded, “Yes, I knew about his secret love child. I actually planned on using them against you when you first found me. I was hoping that by hitting what you loved the most, you’d finally let me go.”

“Are you glad that I didn’t?” Izanami questioned.

“As annoying as you were, I am glad that you didn’t give up on me like everyone else did. But that doesn’t mean that things are going to be easy, Izana. I’ve still got a lot of problems to deal with,” Azula answered.

“I know. I know that this isn’t something that will go away in the span of a night. I know that you’ll always struggle with your mental health but I’ll be here to support you. Me, Raiden and Kei Lo,” Izanami said.

Azula’s cheeks lightened at the mention of Kei Lo, “Yes, well, I could certainly use all of the help that I can get.”

“So, what do we do now?” Izanami asked.

“Well, we’re going back to the capital now. There are a few loose errands that I need to take care of after all of this. Like dealing with mother and all of that,” Azula replied.

“Do you really want to deal with your mother?” Izanami inquired.

Azula sighed, “Part of me wants nothing to do with her, but then there’s that other part of me that still wants nothing more than my parents love. I know now that I will never get that with father, but perhaps I can try with mother.”

Hearing Azula talk about her parents made Izanami think about her own. After all these years, she still hadn’t reconnected with her parents after they disowned her. Izanami didn’t even think that they wanted that, but it was still something that she was willing to try just to see how it turned out.

“Izana, what are you thinking about?” Azula questioned.

“Just my parents. It’s been almost five years since I’ve seen them. They never made any attempts at trying to find me and I have tried finding them a few times, but I’ve never gotten anywhere good. Even though they probably don’t want anything to do with me, I’d at least like to give it a try,” Izanami answered.

Azula scoffed, “Of course, you wouldn’t. You wanted to give things a try with me even though you had every reason not to. Speaking of giving things a try, are you ever going to give things a try with Raiden?”

Now it was Izanami’s turn to blush, “W-what? We’d have nothing to try! There’s nothing between us.”

“Oh, come now, Izanami. I see the way he looks at you and the way you look at him. I know there’s something there, whether you two idiots see it or not. I can still try pointing you in the right direction though,” Azula said.

“Like you’re one to talk about pining considering how you and Kei Lo are,” Izanami remarked.

“If this were a few months ago, I probably would have ripped your head off for suggesting that I’d end up with a non-bender, but after I have gotten to know him, the idea of being with Kei Lo wouldn’t be too repulsing,” Azula commented, and the two girls had a nice laugh together.

After everything that they’d been through, to be able to sit down and have a conversation like this with Azula meant everything to Izanami. It meant that they were heading in the right direction and that things weren’t completely doomed. But there were still dark clouds hanging over Izanami’s head other than her issues with Azula.

“It’s just that, after everything that’s happened, I’m not really sure if now is the time to start any epic romance. There are still a lot of things I need to figure out, like what I’m supposed to do with myself. I’ve spent so many years travelling and that’s only because I was hiding from my past. I don’t want to hide from anything anymore,” Izanami admitted.

“You don’t have to hide, Izana. You have nothing to hide from. Zuzu cleared your name years ago so there’s no point in being afraid of going to your old home. I think it’s time we both found some stability in our life, Izana,” Azula stated.

“I think you’re right,” Izanami agreed.

Although Izanami had no idea what the future had install for her now, she’d like to think that maybe someday she’ll be able to live a life of simplicity. For the past several years, her life had been anything but simple and as much as she’d enjoyed seeing what the world had to offer, Izanami would like to have some stability in her life. Of course, that would be after Izanami sorted out the main mess in her life right now. There were definitely certain things that couldn’t be left unfixed.

If Izanami had to be glad for one thing though, it was that after months of struggling and turmoil, she’d finally rebuilt a friendship with Azula that was stronger than ever and something that could withstand anything. No matter what the future had install for her, Izanami knew that she would be able to handle it as long as she had Azula by her side, like she was supposed to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you guys get into an emotional mess about this being the dramatic end, remember that there’s still the epilogue to go that will wrap up everything that’s happened years after this conclusion. Now that the main story has concluded, what did you guys think of it? Did it live up to your expectations or did I throw you guys a few curveballs here and there? Let me know your thoughts cause the next chapter will be the final one I post where I can give you guys my response to your thoughts.


	50. In the End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, the final chapter of Taming the Dragon. As mentioned, this chapter is an epilogue that wraps up everything that happened in the early years after the events of the previous chapter. It takes place ten years into the future, meaning that Izanami is 30 and Azula is 29. I only just realised that Izanami is now double the age she was when the series began, which wasn’t my intention at all since the epilogue was always going to take place ten years in the future.

Having just turned thirty, Izanami knew that she still had a lot more life left in her despite having done more in her first thirty years than most people did in a lifetime. In recent years, things had certainly slowed down for Izanami and she had managed to find some stability in her life despite the struggles that she had to overcome. She had needed to sacrifice plenty of things in her life in order to get to this point, but Izanami was glad to be where she was in life.

After the insanity of what happened with Ozai ten years ago, Izanami had taken some time to do some solo soul searching for the first time in her life. She’d taken a year to herself to recover from everything that had happened and found out even more about herself than she thought she could’ve. One thing that Izanami had wanted to do was attempt to reconcile with her parents after spending five years away from them.

In the time that she was away, Izanami did try tracking her parents down in an attempt to make things right with them. Even though they had disowned her, they were still her parents and Izanami didn’t want anything to be left unsaid. When she finally did track down her parents, they were less than pleased to see her after she ‘disrupted’ their newly found peaceful lives. Her parents had returned back to her original home of Fire Fountain City and were hardly as esteemed as they used to be. Following the war, her father had been stripped of his title by Zuko once he had decided that her father couldn’t be useful anymore. That had not set well with him, and her father had blamed Izanami for that failure.

Right before her parents were undoubtedly going to disown them, Izanami got them back in her corner when she revealed that they had a grandchild. At first they had assumed it was her and immediately ridiculed Izanami before she clarified that it was Kazu’s. When Izanami found out that her parents did not know of the circumstances surrounding his death, she decided not to tell them that since Kazu had always been their golden child and she did not want to ruin their perspective of him. Izanami had made it clear that unless they accepted her for who she was and Gen as the mother of his child, then they would not be able to see their grandson. That had been enough to turn her parents around and the immediately doted on Niko the first moment they met him.

As for Niko and Gen, they remained on Ember Island to this day, although Izanami did see them every so often since she wanted Niko to know his cousins. That’s right, cousins. Following her return to the Fire Nation, the first person that Izanami reunited with was Raiden. He had waited for her, just like he’d said he would. In the year that she was gone, Izanami’s feelings for him had grown stronger than they were when she left. Izanami had been hesitant about entering a relationship with him, given her track record with friendships and relationships, but after some encouragement from Azula, Izanami decided to pursue a relationship with him and nine years later, she did not regret that decision at all.

They had taken a bit of a slow approach to their relationship, since Izanami had struggled with allowing herself to grow attached to people since the people that she always became attached to went away. On the other hand, Raiden had struggled with commitment and feared ruining his friendship with Izanami. But they had managed to make things work and when Izanami was 24, they’d gotten married. The following year, Izanami had her first child and barely a year ago, Izanami had her second child. Despite having practically lost her family, Izanami had found one of her own and she was very happy with that.

“Momma, look at me! Look at me!” a childish voice entered Izanami’s mind.

Turning around, Izanami saw her five-year-old daughter, Akemi bouncing up and down.

“Well, look at you, my little sun,” Izanami cooed as she scooped her daughter up in her arms.

“I’m in my firebending clothes!” Akemi grinned.

Just a few months ago, Akemi had made her first blast of fire and had been bouncing off the walls and trying to do as much of it as she could. Of course, Izanami only let her daughter firebend once she was there to watch her and if she was in her protective gear so that she couldn’t get burned.

“That you are. And don’t you just look adorable,” Izanami grinned.

“Momma, stop,” Akemi giggled as she pushed Izanami’s hands aside.

“But I don’t know why you’re wearing that since you’re only allowed to firebend if me and daddy are around and both me and daddy are busy,” Izanami said.

Akemi pouted, “But you’re not now.”

“I will be in a few moments. I’m going to see Auntie Azzie, Aunt Mai and Aunt Ty Lee today,” Izanami replied.

“What about me?” Akemi frowned.

“Giving me those eyes isn’t going to change my mind, Akemi. And you’ll be staying at the Royal Palace with the other kiddies so daddy and I won’t be there to watch you which means _no_ firebending,” Izanami stated.

“But can I do it with Auntie Azzie later?” Akemi asked excitedly.

“If she’ll let you,” Izanami replied.

That seemed to be enough to satisfy Akemi as she was still bouncing with energy like always and couldn’t wait for the day to be over so that she could spend some time with her favourite aunt. From the moment Azula saw Akemi, the two had this immediate connection that hasn’t been broken five years later. Akemi absolutely adored Azula and looked up to her more than anything, even more than Izanami. She was a happy and vibrant child, which Izanami loved and she hoped that her daughter wouldn’t lose her spark anytime soon. As for her one-year-old son, Daiyu, he was off with Raiden for the day since they were having a girls day.

Every few months, Azula, Izanami, Mai and Ty Lee would meet up to catch up on each other’s lives. After her return back to the Fire Nation, Azula had worked on reconciling with Mai and Ty Lee before she went to reconcile with her mother. Things with Ursa had been a bit of a bumpy ride and it had taken a lot of guidance for Azula to accept her mother, but what surprisingly made the process easier was Azula’s connection to her half-sister, Kiyi. Nowadays Azula was somewhat close with her mother which almost made Izanami jealous since she longed for that connection she knew she would never have with her mother.

But after witnessing several bad parenting styles and seeing the damage it can cause firsthand, Izanami was determined not to make those same mistakes and raise her children to be happy so that they wouldn’t grow up with an estranged relationship. If Akemi could look at Izanami the way that she always did, Izanami would be very happy with that.

~*•°•*~ 

Like they always did, the girls met up at an exclusive restaurant in Caldera City without the presence of any onlookers. Ty Lee was always there before anyone else with Azula and Izanami usually arriving shortly after the other and Mai always took the longest to show up. Izanami had a feeling that it was because Mai never really liked going to their little gatherings, but she still went anyways.

“Izana! It is so good to see you!” Ty Lee exclaimed as she hobbled over to Izanami. Ty Lee was now six months pregnant with her second child so she was looking rather round compared to how she normally does.

“You too, Ty Lee,” Izanami smiled.

“So, how’s motherhood treating you the second time around?” Ty Lee asked as they sat down.

“Ugh, it’s exhausting,” Izanami groaned. “I forgot how much sleep having a kid makes you lose.”

“Then perhaps you’ll think of that the next time you try going for another one,” came Azula’s voice from behind.

“Azula!” Ty Lee cheered as she pulled Azula down to hug her. Like she always did when hugged, Azula grimaced at the contact and was quick to pull away.

“Not even motherhood could make you a softie,” Izanami remarked.

“That’s exactly right, Izana,” Azula nodded as she sat down. “Nothing will ever make me lose my hard touch. So no matter what you have heard, I have _not_ gone soft.”

“How is little Ryu?” Ty Lee asked eagerly, referring to Azula’s one-year-old son.

As fate would have it, both Azula and Izanami had a child the same age. Granted, their age difference didn’t really matter when it came to their friendship since it was only a year. But they both hoped that their boys would grow up to be friends the same way the they were. The fact that they were cousins certainly helped.

“He’s gone off with Kei Lo for their little boys day out. But in general, he’s a little nightmare. Remind me again why I decided that being a mother was a good idea? I certainly didn’t have the best example growing up,” Azula huffed.

“True, but you had good examples in us,” Izanami pointed out.

Azula shrugged, “I guess you’re right. I probably could’ve been a whole lot worse of a mother without your guys help.”

“It’s only been a year, Azula. You still have the rest of his life to ruin,” a new voice interrupted them.

“Mai!” Ty Lee grinned.

Instead of glaring at Mai’s jibe like she would’ve in the past, Azula just rolled her eyes knowing that Mai didn’t mean it like she said it. It had taken a whole lot of work, but the girls could now joke about their past as if it was just one big joke. Although there were certain things that they didn’t joke about, like the betrayal that lead to their imprisonment. That was something that they tried to _not_ talk about.

“How’s Ruon-Jian and Teja?” Izanami asked, referring to Mai’s husband and daughter.

“They’re fine. I never thought I’d say this, but I’ve been looking for an excuse to get away from them for weeks now,” Mai muttered.

Izanami chuckled, “Teja still being a little terror?”

“Yes. And Ruon-Jian is still trying to convince me that we should try having another baby,” Mai added.

“Well, don’t. Trust me when I say I’m excited to be a momma again, I’m just not looking forward to what has to follow it,” Ty Lee remarked.

“It’s certainly not fun,” Izanami nodded. “I’m looking forward to when my two can take care of themselves. It’s exhausting having to wait on them all the time.”

“But you would do anything for them,” Azula commented.

“I would, and I know that you guys would do the same for your kids,” Izanami smiled.

“Of course! I’d hate to think of anything bad happening to my little girl,” Ty Lee said.

The conversation soon changed to catching up on their family lives. Azula mentioned how she had recently been to Ember Island with Ursa and Zuko. That was something the three did every summer like the used to when they were kids, and they now kept it going to bring them together. It was always a trip just for them, meaning no kids, no spouses and nobody else. Azula even mentioned how they’d come back, only for Zuko to get the shock of his life when his wife Suki announced that she was pregnant for the first time. Ty Lee had obviously been excited about this, since she was hoping that it meant her new little girl would have  a playmate. When the others asked how Ty Lee knew she was having a girl, Ty Lee simply said she could ‘feel’ it.

Some things had never changed with them, Azula was still as calculating and manipulative as ever, but she no longer used those techniques on her friends and family. She only used it as part of her role as Zuko’s advisor, which her brother had appointed her with a year after her return home. As for Mai, she was still as apathetic like she’d always been, only now it didn’t take that much effort to get her to smile or life. It was always easy to do that when Mai’s daughter was involved.

Of course, Ty Lee still believed in auras and used that to explain why she was so good at feeling things, like the fact that her first daughter had been a girl. Hardly anything had changed with Izanami, and she was glad that her life was still like she preferred it to be. Part of her had expected her life to always be full of chaos given who she was friends with, but it was never too much chaos nowadays. They could just be friends, while bringing up their new families into a new world that they’d helped create.

~*•°•*~ 

It was night when Izanami returned home. Raiden was there waiting for her like he always was, and greeted her with a hug and a kiss. Although the form of their relationship had changed, the foundation of it was still the same. They were still as good friends as they were ten years ago. In fact, their friendship had only gotten stronger with their romantic relationship.

“How was your girls day?” Raiden asked.

“It was fine. We just talked, you know, the usual,” Izanami replied.

“I already put the kids to bed so they won’t be a problem,” Raiden said.

“Thanks for picking up Akemi,” Izanami smiled.

“Anything to help you out. Hey, so I’ve been thinking…” Raiden trailed off.

“That’s never a good sign,” Izanami teased.

Raiden rolled his eyes, “You love my brain. Anyways, so I’ve been thinking and I think that we’re long overdue for some time to ourselves. Maybe we should take a trip to Ember Island so we could see Gen and Niko.”

“That’d be nice,” Izanami agreed. “But where would we leave the kids?”

“Well, we could leave them with your parents,” Raiden suggested.

Izanami grimaced, “Great. I’ll love having that conversation.”

“They’ll come around eventually,” Raiden tried reassuring her.

“You really think so? It’s been nine years and they’re still frosty around me. I put so much effort into them but they don’t do the same for me. The only effort they put I is when my kids are involved,” Izanami said.

“At least they like seeing the kids. If they really didn’t want anything to do with you, then they would’ve easily cut them out of their life too. They didn’t even seem too phased by the fact that their son had produced a half-breed grandchild,” Raiden argued.

“That’s because Kazu was and still is their golden child. They don’t even think that he even loved Gen like I say he did. They just thought it was something that came out of convenience so they conveniently had a kid,” Izanami stated.

“Let’s not argue about this. Your parents aren’t worth that,” Raiden interjected.

Izanami nodded, “Let’s just sit here and spend some time together. We’ve hardly had any time like this since having Daiyu.”

That was enough for Raiden so the two just sat on the balcony of their home entangled in each other’s embrace. This was something that they always did whenever the had the time, and Izanami savoured these moments. Those moments when it was like nothing else mattered and it was just the two of them. Of course, the moment didn’t last forever as they were interrupted by two loud screams that they knew came from their children.

“Hi, momma!” Akemi screeched as she tootled towards them, carrying her brother behind her.

“What are you doing up, missy? You’re supposed to be in bed,” Izanami tutted as her daughter jumped in between them.

“Can’t sleep,” Akemi grinned.

“Did you have sizzle-crisps today?” Izanami crossed her arms.

“Maybe…” Akemi trailed off.

“Great, now she’ll never sleep,” Izanami whispered to Raiden. For some reason, sizzle-crisps always gave Akemi a burst of energy and made her almost uncontrollable. That was certainly her now.

“And why were you dragging your brother here?” Raiden asked.

“I was bored!” Akemi exclaimed.

“I’m sure he appreciated that,” Izanami chuckled as she picked up her son.

Akemi seemed to take that as her invitation to snuggle up to her parents, prompting them to both look at each other with a roll of their eyes. One thing about their daughter was that she was a cuddler and loved being in her parents arms. Izanami had no problems giving her daughter that reciprocation of love in return, since she certainly didn’t want Akemi growing up and resenting her like she resented her parents.

Looking back on her life, Izanami certainly had a few regrets, most notably how things had turned out with her parents and the collapse of her friendship with Azula. But Izanami had hoped that things with her parents wouldn’t always be this way since she’d had those exact fears about Azula all those years ago and nowadays their friendship was stronger than it had ever been. They would always be apart of each other’s lives, and Izanami was certain and grateful of that. They might’ve had a bumpy road to get to where they are now, but it had all been worth it. Because in the end, Izanami had done the seemingly impossible and tamed the dragon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that concludes this story. I’m surprised that this is my first story that I finished, but I am proud of that because whenever I had written stories before in the past I’d never been able to finish them. But Taming the Dragon doesn’t have to end here. If you guys want more of this story or have your own headcannons, head to my one shot collection titled Everything in Between and leave me a request there. Thank you to everyone who has left kudos on the story and especially to those who have commented, your feedback has meant more to me than you’ll understand. If you guys liked Taming the Dragon, then check out my other ongoing fics titled Blinding Horizon and Flying Embers. They might not be Azula centric, but they certainly feature our favourite Fire Nation princess in them.
> 
> I know that some people were hoping for an Azula/Izanami ending and it was something that I briefly toyed with before I decided what the outcome would be for them. I just felt like after everything that they’d been through it was better to have them close as sisters and to actually be sisters via their marriages to Raiden and Kei Lo, since that was how they had always seen each other. I’m not exactly sure what it makes them, but I am pretty sure that they’re sister in-laws because of this, and I personally like that much better. They can also have their own families and allow those families to be together. On another note, when writing this chapter I’d always planned it so that Izanami would have just had her second child but it completely slipped my mind until I was writing their get together that Azula would’ve had one of her own the same age, which I love. I'm also not opposed to writing another universe where Azula/Izanami do end up together but that would be included in my one-shot collection.


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